Elfen Lied: The End (Re-Published)
by EL619
Summary: A sequel to my first story 'Elfen Lied: The Last Diclonius'. Two years later, Lucy finally has the life and family she always wanted. But there is more to being a diclonius then she could have ever imagined.
1. Prologue

**Somewhere in Japan…**

Sakuroka hid behind a dumpster in the darkest part of the alley…hopeful nobody from the street beyond could see or find her. She pressed herself hard against the grinding brick wall, her breathing hard and heavy from exhaustion. Sweat rolled down her face, dripping off her nose. She watched with baited breath as person after person walked past the alley so quickly they blurred like moving pictures. With a sudden flash, as if being teleported there, three rough-looking boys stepped in front of the alley entrance. They desperately searched for her, twisting their heads viciously in all directions for a glint of movement. She caught her breath in her throat, not wanting to betray her location to the boys chasing her. Her heart pounded so hard with every sinister glance they cast her way that her chest felt like a drum. She felt it might burst from her rib cage. A large bead of sweat rolled down over her eye; the salt burning her vision. But she dared not wipe it away.

"SHIT! I think we lost her," one of the boys said to the others, kicking a nearby trash bin in frustration. "SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!"

"She's pretty fast for a girl," another one added.

"You mean for a freak," the first boy retorted. They all stood in the middle of the sidewalk, caught in a storm of silent fury. After a few tenses moments, the first boy sighed, and then growled, "Come on, let's go. We'll find her again later."

"Yeah, I was getting hungry anyway," the second returned. "You guys wanna go get some ramen or something?" After agreeing to ramen, they all set off in the direction of the nearest cart.

"You have to admit though, that girl does have one sweet ass," the one cooed as they walked away.

"Yeah, she is one fine piece of cherry pie. If it weren't for those weird horns, I'd hit that REAL hard." The three of them continued their perverse discussion about what each of them would "do" to her if ever given the chance. One of them gave a final look over his shoulder, and when he was certain there was nothing down the alley, ran to catch up with his friends. Once certain they were out of earshot, Sakuroka let out a much-needed sigh of relief, though her heart continued to pound against her ribcage. Her body was now stiff and sore all over, and she was grateful for the chance to rest. Her stomach lurched inside her, giving a rather loud rumble to scold and remind her that she was neglecting to feed it. As she rubbed her stomach in a futile attempt to settle her hunger, she licked her lips longingly, thinking that ramen sounded pretty good right now.

However, as was the custom with being homeless, she was often times lucky to eat anything at all. And the fact that she had horns didn't help with her already poor image with the public. She always seemed to notice the disgusting glances and severe looks people gave her as they past by. What hurt her most often though, was when people didn't look at all. They simply brushed on, their eyes fixed forward as if they didn't notice her when she knew they had. They refused to acknowledge her very existence. To them, she was nothing…no more then litter on the street to be ignored. But even that didn't bother her so much anymore. She was used to it by now…or so she told herself. All that mattered was the next meal. She imagined the taste of ramen on her tongue, savoring that meaty, sweet, yet simple taste that most people of this country took for granted. She was rising to her feet, thinking about what she was going to do about her hungry belly…when she felt something.

A tiny tugging sensation tickled the back of her skull. It was only just barely on the edges of her consciousness. It felt kind of like when you're trying to remember something you know you've forgotten. Sakuroka looked up and down the alley, afraid the three boys might have come back for her. However, she was alone, and the alley was as quiet as the grave. The only movement and sound came from the crowd of people walking by the entrance, who still had yet to notice her there.

_**Sakuroka**_, a voice echoed. Sakuroka began spinning around fearfully, crashing into cans and tripping over boxes, furiously trying to find this voice that didn't seem to have a body to go with it. A feeling of helpless fear began crawling up her spine and digging itself into her.

"Who's there?" she demanded to the void.

_**Don't be afraid**_, came a quick a soothing reply, _**I'm your friend.**_

"If you're a friend then show yourself!"

_**I wish I could. But sadly it is not that simple.**_

"Is that so? And why is that?"

_**It is difficult to explain.**_ The voice was so close that Sakuroka felt like she could touch it. Yet she remand positive she was alone. Sakuroka had been spinning around so much that now she was feeling light-headed. So she stopped turning and plopped herself down onto the ground.

"Who are you?" she asked.

_**The real question isn't who I am…but rather WHAT I am.**_

"What do you mean?" Sakuroka decided to simply stare at the black wall opposite her and use it as a substitute for the missing body to match the mysterious voice inside her head.

_**Have you ever felt like you weren't alone before…as if somebody were following you, clinging to you like a shadow, even though you are completely alone? Or have you ever felt as I you were changing inside…like your soul was melding? Have you ever felt like you had power within you Sakuroka…unspeakable…unbeatable power? **_The dark voice spoke with icy precision. Every word and statement it spoke of rung as true as a bell. It also seemed able to see her dizzy and confused expression, as it continued. _**You have great power within you Sakuroka. And I am…that…power.**_

Without warning, something emerged out of Sakuroka's spine. It sent a hot chill throughout her body, and made her back feel like it had just fallen asleep. It extended in front of her, a vague, almost transparent object that coiled like a snake to its charmer in front of her eyes. Sakuroka thought it looked strangely like an arm.

"What's going on?" she asked edgily, pushing her back against the wall.

_**You are what's known as a diclonius, and your power is starting to awaken. These hands are your vectors. You have four of them and they are powerful weapons. They can lift great amounts of weight and can cut through almost everything. These hands shall serve you well as you write your destiny…and save yourself from the humans.**_

"What are you talking about?"Sakuroka's head was a jumble of confusion, and she was growing more afraid with every syllable the voice spoke. It was haunting and foreboding. Yet, she felt equally comforted by it.

**All your questions shall be answered in due time. But first you must do something. Go to Kamakura. There, you must find a diclonius girl named Lucy. Find her…and kill her. If you don't then she will kill you. Only after her death shall everything become clear, and you will then understand your true destiny.**

Before Sakuroka could raise her voice in protest, the voice ebbed away, as well as the feeling of its presence, leaving Sakuroka alone in the alley again. She stood in the breeze of the alley, dumbfounded. _What just happened_, she asked herself. Here she was, running through what she was told and trying desperately to make sense of everything, only to end up more confused then she was at the start. So she was this "diclonius" thing. And she had powers, which just happened to be four invisible hands. Had she finally snapped? Maybe the stress of her life had finally reached a peak and taken their toll on her. For all she knew, she could have been talking to the wall for the last few minutes.

But there was a deeper force inside her telling her it was the truth. And this Lucy…she seemed familiar somehow. The prospect of meeting her was very engaging, like finding a forgotten friend. Moreover, the idea of killing her was even more appealing. It was an unnerving feeling at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it made the most sense out of anything. Why shouldn't she kill this Lucy? Why shouldn't she get revenge on all people for how miserable her life had been? As the aspect grew on her, it went from sounding appealing to sounding fun. She felt called to it.

She closed her eyes to concentrate, and slowly removed one of her vectors from her back. Her arms prickled with goosebumps as she savored the feeling of it emerging from her back. She moved it back and forth in front of her, smiling at it as if it were a new toy.

Finally deciding, she got to her feet and took brisk strides down the road. It would take her a while to get to Kamakura walking, but that was one of the few good things about being homeless. You have all the time in the world. And so she walked, down the street, toward Kamakura…and toward Lucy.


	2. Chapter 1: Premonition

Yet another immaculate morning graced the skies above the Kaede House in Kamakura. The temperature was both cool and warm, keeping it at a comfortable level. Cotton clouds decorated the sky, which was a perfect shade of crystal blue in nice even patches. A breeze brushed past softly, like an angels touch, causing the branches of the now-blooming sakura trees to dance. The sun was high, shining brightly down upon the earth. Birds sang their songs, blended with the symphony of sights and sounds that made early morning so beautiful. It was obvious that spring now hung heavily in the air and was in full swing. The people of Kamakura could feel its positive energy radiating within and all around them. Everyday, they woke up full of life…ready to face yet another day filled with opportunity and mystery, all that is except for one.

Lucy leaned on the windowsill with her elbows as she gazed outside, letting the breeze whip her pink hair all around her face. With every breath, she could smell the sweet scent of the plants. A thunderous gargle from behind took her out of her reverence. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Kohta still fast asleep in their bed. His body lay contorted in an odd shape that Lucy didn't think was humanly possible. The covers were strewn messily all over, only half covering Kohta. His "bed head" was almost frightening, and a small trail of drool crawled down the side of his cheek. Lucy stifled a quiet chuckle at how ridiculous he looked. She smiled lovingly at him, thinking only of how much she loved him. But right now, she felt rather regretful of his sleeping habits. She often wished they could wake up and enjoy the morning together.

Morning had recently become Lucy's favorite part of the day. It had been a source of comfort and healing over the past two years. Looking out at the rising sun, witnessing everyday begin anew was very heartening. Whenever she would look out at that ball of red and orange fire, mixed with all the colors of the earth in all its grandeur, she felt something almost spiritual. The incident with Tomo was now two years old, and it certainly left scars on her as well as the others. The loss of Yuka was a tragedy that they would mostly likely never truly overcome emotionally. Yet, Lucy somehow felt like he had brought them closer together, albeit by default. And now, two years later, she finally felt like she had the family she always wanted, and knew that her tortured, scarred heart was starting to heal.

Kohta snored even louder, making Lucy flinch at its gurgling sound. _How many hours can that boy sleep? _Deciding to let Kohta sleep just awhile longer, Lucy draped herself in a robe and walked downstairs for some breakfast. About halfway down the stairs, she could the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen, and wasn't at all surprised to find that Nana and Mayu were already up.

"Good morning, Lucy," Mayu said to her happily as she walked through the door. Nana uttered a similar greeting, both of them not turning their attention away from their skillets. By now, it was well-known in Kaede House that if Kohta was up this early, you might as well expect to find yourself in some parallel universe.

"Morning," Lucy said with a yawn as she walked toward the cupboard to grab herself a cup for some hot tea. "So what're you guys making?" she asked, trying looked over Nana's shoulder.

"I wanted to try and make pancakes again," Nana answered enthusiastically. Lucy's stomach gave a small lurch at the idea of Nana cooking again. Nana had certainly come a long way since she first left the island facility, having learned how to do many things by herself now. She could clean, go shopping, and was even starting to pick up how to read and write. Kohta now felt comfortable enough to leave her at the house by herself if the situation called for it. Moreover, while her progress was good, the one thing she never seemed able to pick up was cooking. Lucy remembered painfully how many of her meals were brunt or under-cooked, and the stomachaches it brought on afterwards since she and the others had eaten it anyway out of sheer moral support.

She remembered one time in particular when Nana had insisted she be in charge of dinner. Now normally, Mayu would be with her, but she had demanded they let her do it alone. Giving in to her demands, Kohta and the others let her make them dinner by herself. Everyone sat neatly in the dining room, their hands clenched tightly in their laps while they heard various crashing and odd odors coming from the kitchen. With every passing second, their breathing became harder, and they became tenser. After what seemed like hours, Nana finally brought them their dishes. She claimed it was fried eel with miso soup and boiled rice, but the eel was blackened to a crisp, the miso looked more like stagnant water, and the rice like cottage cheese. Everyone held their food in their chopsticks, understandably hesitant to put this…"food" in their mouths. But Nana's wide, sweet eyes won them over, and they ate the food, preparing for the worst. It turned out everything was worse then they expected. The taste was so putrid nobody could even think of a word to describe it. But they ate the food anyway. Afterwards everyone, except Nana, who was apparently too excited to eat, had stomach pains for a week, and it was secretly decided Nana wouldn't be allowed to cook without supervision again.

Lucy gave a sigh of relief when she saw Mayu give her a wink out of the corner of her eye where Nana couldn't see, noticing Mayu was making a "safe" batch just in case. Lucy put the kettle on the stove and turned the heat on, patiently waiting for the water to come to a boil.

"Are the girls up yet?" Mayu asked her while she waited.

"I don't know. I haven't heard them anything yet. I'll go check." Asking Nana to keep an eye on her kettle, Lucy walked back up the stairs on her tiptoes so as not to disturb the stairs. Upon reaching the door next to her and Kohta's room, she quietly pulled the sliding door open. This room had been converted a while ago into a simple, yet cute nursery with two cribs in the middle where Lucy's two daughters, Yuka and Nyu, were still asleep. Leaning against the doorframe, Lucy starred admiringly at her girls in their motionless and peaceful sleep. If anything in this house had truly saved her, it had been her children. They both were such a joy and blessing, and she was thankful for them both, each the spitting personality of the person whose name they inherited.

She remembered though, how scarred she was at first when she found out she was pregnant. She had been exhibiting some of the more common symptoms of a pregnancy not long after the Tomo incident, and everyone thought she would be smart to take a pregnancy test. After getting Mayu to help her with the test, she starred in horror as she held the results in her shaking hands. It was positive. Mayu screamed in joy, while Lucy stood open mouthed, unable to say a word. Mayu ran in the hall, shouting the news as if to proclaim it to the world. Nana and Mayu danced in circles, while Kohta wrapped Lucy in a tight embrace. But not even the strength of his bear hug to choke the fear out of her. She was going to have a baby. This was certainly something she didn't plan on. For the first few weeks, she laid in her bed hoping it would turn out to be a false alarm or a dream. But as the months went on, and the symptoms became stronger, she knew it was no dream. She was lucky Kohta and the girls were so excited about the forth-coming child, designing the baby's room, buying clothes for the baby, and other things. It meant she could distress in peace.

Going to the doctors for test over the many months was always hard. Not only for the fact that Lucy had no documents, which was a pain in the ass to explain, but also because it was just a self-reminder of what was to come. And it didn't help that at one visit, while under a sonogram, she found out she would be having twins. When she went into labor, it wasn't the birth pains that made her scream. She had experienced enough of that in her life. It was the constant stream of thoughts rising to the top of her head. _How can I possibly be a mother? Will they be like me? What am I going to do? _To make matters worse, one turned out to be a diclonius just like her. Lucky though, the other appeared to have inherited the human gene from Kohta. It was actually Mayu and Nana that suggested the names Yuka and Nyu, and both Kohta and Lucy agreed that the names seemed perfect.

Lucy was so terrified of the twins at first. When they took them home, she would barely ever hold them, only ever holding them when it was absolutely necessary. And every time she did, she had to fight back the tears. With all the blood on her hands, how could she hold this innocent child in her arms and call herself a mother? But slowly, she could feel her motherly instincts taking over. She started to want to hold them more and more. She even started to smile at them. And they would always smile back at her, gripping small parts of her hair in their microscopic hands. They were just to darn cute. How could she not love them with all her heart?

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Lucy's waist, and a chin rested itself on her shoulder. Lucy's smile broadened even wider as she felt Kohta's body against her own. He leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, then followed her gaze.

"They're just like their father," Lucy said after a moment of silence.

"Nice to know they got their looks from somewhere," Kohta joked.

"I meant how they could sleep forever," Lucy teased back.

"That's not very nice. I don't sleep that much," Kohta responded, putting on an overly obvious fake frown.

"Really?" Lucy said, raising an eyebrow at him. Kohta spun her around on her heels, holding onto her shoulders.

"Really." Kohta and Lucy held each other's gaze in what felt like ten lifetimes. Deeply they looked at each other, feeling they could merge their souls just by looking into each other's irises. And standing there, their love was both apparent, and profound. They could feel it coming from the other as easily as they could breathe. Kohta brushed a small strand of Lucy's hair out of her face, and then they both leaned in until their lips meshed into a kiss.

"While I hate to break up this romantic scene," said Mayu from the top of the stairs, "…but breakfast is ready in the dining room." Lucy and Kohta instantly pulled away, their faces red with embarrassment. Mayu lead them down to the dining room where Nana was waiting with the plates and utensils ready for them. They served the food, Nana a bit more aggressively. She was clearly excited and ready for everyone to critique her work. Everyone gulped nervously and prepared themselves for the worse as they slowly ate, and they were surprised to find that Nana's pancakes were cooked perfectly.

"Wow Nana," Kohta said after taking a rather large bite, his mouth still full, "This is really good." Nana's face blushed slightly from the compliment while she fidgeted with the ends of her nightshirt. Not long after, the Yuka and Nyu could be heard from upstairs. They had woken up and were hungry for some breakfast of their own. Lucy and Kohta went up to fetch the girls while Mayu and Nana quickly prepared them their breakfast. After they were feed, both of them were put in their play-pin while the rest of them proceeded to clean up. Together, they quietly worked, moving quickly like a well-oiled machine.

"So…are we still going to go?" Mayu asked about halfway through the job. The silence now became stagnant, heavy, and uncomfortable. They were all afraid this would get brought up at some point today, but the guessed there was no avoiding it. They stopped moving, holding themselves in place.

"I think we should," Kohta said finally.

"I don't want to," Nana protested, "I don't like that place!" No one was surprised about Nana's reaction. She had reacted the same way the previous times they had went.

"But Nana, don't you think we should all go together…as a family?" Kohta asked.

"I still don't like going there," Nana further protested, "You guys go. I'm staying here!" Nana dropped herself onto one of the kitchen chairs and crossed her arms in childlike defiance. It was odd to see Nana act like this. Though she was in actuality nine years old, her body resembled that of an eighteen-year-old girl.

"Nana, please," Mayu pleaded. Lucy just looked silently at her reflection in her tea, the ripples warping her image. In truth, she wasn't too thrilled about going either. If anything, she hated that place more then Nana did. Every time they went, memories of a time she'd rather have forgotten rushed through her like waves in high tide. However, she knew there was no getting around it.

"I think we should go too," Lucy said suddenly, still looking at her tea. Everyone fell silent and turned their attention toward her. "I don't like the idea of going either, but I think it's important that we do. We owe that to her at least." The room fell deathly silent again.

"Ok," Nana consented weakly.

"Thank you," Kohta said patting Nana on the head, feeling truly grateful. He turned to Lucy and gave her smile in thanks. "It won't be all bad. We've had some nice visits. I'm sure she be happy to see us again after such a long time since our last one." Kohta gave a small chuckle that sounded oddly forced and uncomfortable. After recovering from their moment of sensitive apprehension, slowly and quietly they got themselves ready, dressing in the appropriate clothing for visiting a grave.

* * *

><p>Though it wasn't very far to the graveyard from the house, it felt much longer then that. Everyone walked in mournful silence, the only sound coming from the two infant girls as they giggled and made other various baby sounds, both blissfully ignorant of where they were going. Once they had arrived, they walked along the same path they had, by now, memorized that would lead them to the proper headstone. Lucy looked around, feeling every tormented memory that seemed forever etched here in the graves. She hated graveyards. All they did was remind her of exactly how many people she killed…and of the one person she didn't save. They stood in front of the grave with looks of stoic mourning. The grave was simple and traditional for a Japanese place of burial. There was a single slab of limestone marble, with a small alter for gifts and incense. And on the single slab was but a single word…<p>

_Yuka._

"Happy birthday, Yuka," said Kohta as he and Mayu placed down two bouquets of yellow lilies, Yuka's favorite flower. "Sorry we haven't been here in a while." Kohta rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, looking embarrassed and smiling what looked like a genuine smile. Effectively enough, everyone else, including Nana and Lucy, started feeling much better then they had when they arrived. Now, it really felt as if Yuka were here with them again. These visits always started out rough like this, but soon afterwards, it would always get better. They could feel Yuka's spirit emanating around and within them, touching them. They always felt like she was looking down on them with that affectionate smile of hers.

There was the little shrine they made for Yuka back in her old room at the house, so they could've always visited her from there. However, Kohta had always found it more respectful to come to her actual grave where she was buried. Besides, Yuka had always been something of a traditionalist anyway.

"Nana's been getting much better with cooking," Mayu told Yuka. Nana immediately jumped in, eager to brag about herself.

"Yeah! Just this morning, I made pancakes, and everyone said it was the best they ever had!"

"I don't know if I'd say that," Mayu responded.

"Hey, that's mean!" Lucy joined the others in a hearty, well-meaning laugh at Mayu's teasing as Nana puffed her cheeks in irritation. Lucy stood behind them as they all took turns speaking to Yuka. With no real explanation for why, Lucy found herself smiling as she watched them.

But then, suddenly, Lucy felt a prickling, probing sensation in the back of her mind. Instantly (or rather out of old habits), her mind became clear and her body went stiff and defensive. She spun around quickly to see who was behind them, but there was no one there. Only row upon row of stone graves could be seen, which became strangely ominous. Lucy tried to get a good fix on what her feeling was, but the odd sensation had disappeared almost as instantly as she had felt it. It had vanished like dust in a high wind.

"Is something wrong?" Kohta asked her. Lucy didn't answer at first. She just continued to stare down the graves, looking for anything that seemed out of place. In the brief silence before she answered, Lucy could hear a whistle of wind as it flew past them, weaving in-between the headstones. It gave her a small chill, like death was breathing down her spine.

"No…it's nothing." Her reply seemed off and somewhat uncomfortable. Whatever it was she sensed, Lucy had never felt anything like it before. It wasn't like when she sensed another diclonius nearby. No, this was something…different somehow and she didn't like that at all, whatever it was.

On the way back to the house, she hung her head in silence while Mayu and Nana jabbered on constantly. She was trying to make sense of what she had felt back there. She knew it couldn't be Nana; she was used to that by now. Maybe she was sensing danger? But she was certain they were alone back there. Perhaps it was déjà vu? No, that was just wishful thinking. Every possible theory she came up with seemed just as unlikely as the last.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kohta asked with concern, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Yeah, of course," Lucy said, giving a forced smile that she hoped appeared genuine. Kohta raised an eyebrow at her, but her smile seemed to convince him as he let the matter drop at that. Lucy let Kohta and the others walk a bit ahead of her so she could think without drawing attention. Why had that feeling bothered her so much? She didn't even know what it was.

Lucy decided to put it out of her mind for the time being. She didn't want to brood on it the rest of the day and risk worrying her family. For now she'd just forget she felt anything and worry about it later, hoping that maybe it would end up just being her imagination.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to Lucy, she was being watched very carefully. Everywhere that Lucy went, the person wasn't far from her, as loyal as a shadow. The person could see her clearly as she power-walked to catch up with the others. As she finally caught up, the two infant girls were what initially grabbed their attention, especially the pinked-haired one with a pair of baby horns. But this was just curiosity. Lucy was still their main focus. They wondered how long it would be before she noticed the effects. A devilish smile crossed the features of their face.<p>

"Soon Lucy," they said. "Very soon."


	3. Chapter 2: Signs

Sakuroka fell to her knees, extending her hand in a dive for the stream, cupping her hand. She violently slurped a mouth full of water, and then extended her hand back for more, like a hungry scavenger. Her throat was so dry it felt like sand paper and her own breathing had become coarse and raspy. Seeing the small river as she passed through the woods was like finding a treasure. And now, as the cold liquid caressed itself down her throat, she felt relief. It had been a week since she had started her journey to find Lucy. Or at least…she thought it had been a week; she really didn't know for sure. Either way, she had generally heard that hiking in the wilderness was tough work. _Whoever had said that_, she thought, _didn't know the half of it_. With no provisions, she found finding food and water even harder here than in the city she left. And shelter was another matter all together. She used to think back alleys were uncomfortable enough. But now, after sleeping on hard earth and stone, a back alley looked like the luxury room at the Grand Hotel right about now. After quenching her thirst, Sakuroka leaned back on the grassy field, sighing in her satisfaction of the water. The water was even less here than what she was used to. Back home, she usually got water from either a sink or water fountain, which was clean at the very least. Here in the woods, the water tasted dirty. _But,_ she thought, _beggars can't be choosy_. The irony of that made her laugh slightly.

"I'm not cut out for this," she said to herself. Sakuroka let her body fall back, the soft grass feeling like a cushion. Gazing up at the clouds as the sun shined through, listening to the sounds of the wilderness around her, a sense of relaxing slumber started to creep up on her. Her eyelids started feeling heavy, and she felt them slowly dropping. _Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt._

**You can't afford to rest right now,** called the voice, as if on cue. She was starting to get irritated. The voice always seemed to appear at the most inopportune times. It was always, "**you don't have time to rest**," or, "**you must get to Lucy first**." Between it and the hiking, Sakuroka was thinking maybe she'd made a bad decision.

"Come on," Sakuroka pleaded, "I've been walking for days now. Can't I just take it easy and rest here for the day?"

**Time is too important. Besides, it's only midday. You can cover a lot of ground by nightfall, **the voice retorted. Sakuroka frowned in defeat at first, but then she had an interesting thought.

"Well, seeing as how I have the legs, I think I'm going to stop early for the day." Clasping her hands behind her head and closing her eyes for a small nap, Sakuroka felt triumphant. She felt so proud in her assertion she couldn't stop smiling. Slowly, she could feel herself falling into slumbers embrace. Her body became relaxed, and all sounds began to fade. Surprisingly, the voice made no further protest.

"Well, well, well…what have we here, boys?" another voice asked. Sakuroka shot upright. She was all too familiar with those voices behind her. Quickly spinning around, she found the three boys from the city standing over her like giants, their arms crossed with arrogant smiles painted from cheek to cheek. "Here we go out for a little camping trip and who should we find…none other then our favorite little homeless girl."

"This is an example of a little word we like to call irony," one boy proclaimed.

"I think you mean fate," the one of others added. Sakuroka sat frozen. She couldn't think of anything to do. All instincts told her to run, but her body seemed too slow to process it. She waited in baited anticipation for the voice to offer some words of help. However, it remained ever silent, seeming to have abandoned her when she needed it most. _Great! Now you shut up! _The tallest and leanest of the boys kneeled down in front of her, staring at her with liquid fire in his eyes.

"You know," he said, "Since we're all out here, why do we get together and have a little fun?" He put a firm hand on her shoulder and ran it down the course of her arm, gripping her wrist and pulling her to her feet. She tried to swat him away, but he just caught her other arm in mid-swing with his free hand, gripping both her wrist now. With one quick and fluid motion, he spun her around and locked both hands behind her back like a police officer arresting a felon.

"Don't be scared. We'll show you a REALLY good time." While she was held in place, another one of the boys slow strutted toward her, an evil and sexual grin on his lips. He brought his hands to her chest and cupped one of her breast in his hands. He squeezed with great strength, forcing her to grunt in pain. "Oh…I think she likes it!" Sakuroka lifted one of her legs in a quick kick to the gut, pushing him back. He held his stomach a moment, grumbling underneath his breath in pain. When he looked back up into Sakuroka's face, his face resembled that of a man extremely disturbed. "BAD MOVE BITCH!"

He lifted his hand high and slapped her so hard across the face her lips bleed. Before the pain could fully register, her grabbed a scruff of her pink hair and forced her back onto the ground. He quickly pinned her before she could run, his body now over top of hers. As he stared down with malice, he licked his lips hungrily as thoughts of sex ran through his mind. Had she not been pinned, her body would be shaking violently.

"I think I'll go first…if you guys don't mind that is." Neither one of his friends objected. Instead, they just stood from a distance and watched. Pinning her arm with his forearm, he carefully, he started to unbutton Sakuroka's shirt.

**You know you can save yourself, **the voice finally said.

_Great,_ Sakuroka thought, _now you decide to help!_

**All you have to do is use your vectors to kill them all. **However, Sakuroka was at a loss. She didn't know yet how to control her vectors. She had only used them that one time in the city, but she hadn't been able to summon them since. Her mind raced with thoughts as she desperately tried to think of something to do. The boy had finished unbuttoning her shirt, exposing her breast to the afternoon air. Like a serpent sniffing its prey, he extended his tongue and licked her face. She clenched her eyes tight, not sure what she was supposed to do. Using all the mental force she had, she thought hard for her vectors to come out. She was thinking so forcefully she thought her brain might melt within her skull.

Then all time seemed caught in a space in-between. It appeared to freeze all together until it stopped; yet years seemed to pass by in flashes. Suddenly, she heard nothing…only the deadly whistle of the wind in the trees. Slowly, she opened her right eye, seeing the two other boys standing silently, their mouths gapping. Then she opened her other eye, and found herself looking directly through the stomach of the boy on top of her to the opposite end of the clearing. His entire midsection was missing, forced out by some unseen force. He himself seemed unaware of what had happened. He was frozen in mid-action, starring in wordless horror at his wound.

**Kill them,** the voice commanded with vindication, **KILL THEM ALL, SAKUROKA!**

Before Sakuroka knew what she was doing, she forced the boy off her with her vectors, sending him flying well over ten feet in the air, until he landed at the edge of the river where he remained motionless. His blood seeped into the river, turning it red. The others turned to run, but their legs were pulled out from under them, and they were quickly suspended upside down. They tried to fight against the invisible enemy, but their attempts were meaningless. Sakuroka quickly swung one of them toward a tree, where a branch impaled his chest. Instantly, his body went limp.

The remaining boy cast horrified glances between his two dead friends. Blood dripped from both their bodies like tears of red. Suddenly, remembering Sakuroka, he faced her. Even from upside down, he knew something was different. She stood hunched over, her heading hanging from her neck. Her shirt was still unbuttoned and fluttering in the wind. She almost looked ghostly, like a spirit who haunted these woods. The unseen force pulled him closer to her until he could feel her heated breath on his face. He could feel it like fire from a dragon. And with every breath, she breathed fear into him. Raising her head to face him, the boy looked into her eyes and saw coldness like no other he'd ever seen nor heard of…a coldness that was colder than the eyes of the devil himself. Her eyes were empty and bottomless, and looking into them felt like having a spear pierce his soul.

"Please," he pleaded. Sakuroka leaned in closer to him, bringing her lips closer to his ears.

"Say hi to Satan for me."

With that, the boy shot like a bullet for the ground headfirst. Only a few feet away, the hard force of which he met the ground with instantly shattered his neck and spine. Sakuroka looked around at the chaos and death surrounding her. As if waking from a dream, she returned to her original state, holding her head that throbbed terribly. Immediately afterwards, Sakuroka felt another strange surge within her, and the forest surrounding was gone, replaced by some gray void. Looking around, Sakuroka found it very hard to put in words what she felt in this place. It was familiar, yet foreign. It was cold, but also warm.

**Hello,** said the voice. Sakuroka turned of her heels and was shocked to see that this time the voice had taken form. Standing crossed arm in front of her was a young boy, not much older then she. Like her, he too had shoulder length pink hair and a pair of horns protruding from his head. And while he was far more muscular and bigger, the biggest difference between them was in his eyes. There was something behind those eyes, something…dark.

"Who are you?" Sakuroka instinctively asked.

**Well, **the voice answered, pausing for a moment to think, **you can call me Tomo.**

"Tomo?"

**Yes…and I think it's time you and I had a little chat.**

* * *

><p>Being a parent, it isn't very often that one has time to themselves. There are many responsibilities that they must attend to, and it can, at times, become a little overwhelming. When these rare occasions present themselves, it's best to take full advantage of them. Lucy was no different to this fact. With a family as…"unique" as hers, she didn't often have time to sit down, take a breather, and gather her thoughts. However, today was a nice exception. Mayu was at school, having recently started her second year of high school, while Kohta was at the university. He had been fortunate enough to get a job up on campus working with the special needs group and students with mental or physical handicaps. It was very fulfilling work, and a job he did quite well. It suited him well. Lucy always surmised that his time with Nyu (the first Nyu) had something to do with it. And while he was working, the girls were at a local daycare center. Lucy was, at first, very hesitant to leave the girls in the hands of strangers, especially Nyu, with her pink hair and horns. However, Kohta had insisted on it, wanting the girls to learn good social behavior and to give Lucy some time off. So Lucy gave in, and was happy to see that none of the other children were giving Nyu any trouble…yet anyway.<p>

Therefore, it was just she and Nana at the house. Nana was busy cleaning up in the kitchen while Lucy tended to the garden. She kept the garden well. Weeds were instantly uprooted, the plants always watered, and her favorite sakura tree was ever providing shade. It was a serene setting, full of life and color. It was here where Lucy felt most free…a place where she could think without distraction. And she certainly needed that right now.

Lucy had this odd feeling lately that something was very wrong. But she didn't know what it was. Just something inside her felt different somehow. It was the strangest thing. Lucy didn't even know how to describe the feeling. Any words she conjured up just seemed unfitting. No mattered how hard she tried, she couldn't even explain it to herself. Overall, it was very frustrating…like trying to remember something you know, but just can't seem to bring out. She thought maybe she was just being paranoid; but then she remembered the day they visited Yuka's grave and how she had another strange feeling then. Luckily, she hadn't felt it since, but something else was tugging at her insides now…and that worried her even more.

Taking off her brown leather gloves, Lucy stood up to examine her work, wiping the sweat from her brow. It had been a particularly hot day today, and Lucy couldn't wait to sit under her favorite tree and cool off for a minute. Lucy pressed her back against the bark of the tree, staring into the open door that led into the dining room. Although it did relax her a bit, she still couldn't completely shake the monkey that was currently dancing inside her mind.

_Maybe it's just me,_ she finally proposed to herself. Lucy stroked the end of her chin, deep in thought. Maybe she was just being paranoid about what happened at the graveyard. I mean, after all, it had been two long and peaceful years since Tomoo had been defeated…and nothing out of the ordinary had happened since then.

"LUCY," yelled Nana, coming into view from the hall. Lucy sat upright onto her feet as Nana leaned on the doorframe, breathing hard.

"What is it?" Lucy asked her worriedly. When Lucy looked up into Nana's face, she did not like the expression Nana currently had.

"You have to hear this," Nana answered before running back into the kitchen. Lucy immediately followed, almost tripping over the landing as she ran into the house. Lucy entered into the kitchen to find Nana leaning on the counter, her head pressed close to the radio. Kohta had bought them a radio and placed in the kitchen for them to listen to when they were either cooking or cleaning up. Lucy came in close, while Nana turned up the volume.

"There are still no leads yet in the rash and mysterious disappearance in several girls all over the country," said the announcer, "The police are very unwilling to give us any information surrounding the missing girls. However, several eye witnesses within the areas report that most of these girls where either from local children's homes, or homeless." The announcer paused for a moment to catch their breath before continuing. "Based on what we have been told from the eye witnesses, all these girls seemed to have shared in the recent physical birth defect of growing horn protrusions from the skull."

Nana and Lucy gave each other shocked and uneasy glances. They both knew what that meant.

"We will bring you more on this story as it develops. In other news, three boys were found dead recently in the Japanese wilderness after a local hunter saw them by a stream. The boys were currently on a camping trip when they were attacked. No suspects have been named, and the authorities are baffled by the gruesomeness of the murders," the announcer continued. However, Nana turned the radio off before they could hear more. For a moment, the two of them stood in troubled silence. While the authorities may have been baffled, Lucy and Nana knew better. A bunch of diclonius go missing, and then a group of boys are gruesomely murdered. It was all too convenient to be coincidence.

"I knew something was wrong," Nana finally said after several moments, her head hanging low off her neck.

"Huh," Lucy said, "What do you mean?" Nana's eyes widened nearly to her ears, her mouth hanging open in shock at having heard this. "You mean you can't sense or hear them?"

It was Lucy's turn to be surprised now. How was it that she, the queen, could not sense diclonius when Nana, a silpelit, could? "You can sense and hear them?" she asked.

"Yes," Nana whispered. "It's not very strong, but I've felt something getting closer now for a few days. And I've heard something too. At night, before I fall asleep, I hear a faint voice. It sounds like it's calling for something…drawing something near. Haven't you felt anything?" Lucy gazed down at her feet, unable to wrap her mind around this.

"No…I can't," she said simply. Lucy looked deeply into her palms, wondering if maybe the change might be physical. But her hands looked as normal as they always did. However, even still…now…Lucy knew something was changing inside her. And she knew that something was coming. The only question was…what was it?

Lucy gaped at herself in the reflection of a window, her face suddenly seeming like it belonged to a stranger.

_What,_ she asked herself, _what's happening to me?_

* * *

><p>Sakuroka sat crossed legged in the gray void, listening intently to Tomo's story. On a whole, it didn't make a lot of sense, not to mention she couldn't follow him completely. There were numerous times when he had lost her and would have to back up to tell her again. After he finished, she contemplated what he had said. She made the best sense out of it she could, and even then, she was confused.<p>

"That's a lot to take in," she said after putting her thoughts in order.

**Yes, **Tomoo said, **I'd assume it is.**

"I have a few questions though," Sakuroka said. "First off, where are we, and second, how come I didn't know you were a boy to begin with." Tomoo chortled permissively. She didn't like the way that laugh sounded. It reminded her of when someone was laughing that another for being too stupid to yet comprehend what was being told to them. "I understand," she hissed with a frown directed at him, not enjoying being treated like a pestilent child.

**To answer your first question, **Tomo said after regaining composure, **this is the inside of your mind. As for the second, it's obviously because I was a boy when I was living.**

"Living?"

**I do not fully understand it myself, but trust me when I say that things will become clearer once we reach Kamakura.**

"Now wait just a damn minute," Sakuroka burst out. Frustration was starting to reach a fever pitch within her. She was starting to get sick of being sent of this wild goose chase without having any of her questions answered. "You can't honestly tell me that you don't know anything. And why exactly do I need to kill this Lucy? Who or what is she and what's so important about her anyway?" Tomo's face quickly turned deadly serious. His once smug grin was now a deathly, stoic calm. His eyes drilled into her as he kneeled down, putting a hand on her shoulder. His touch was as cold as ice.

**Your right, I do understand more, but even if I told you…you wouldn't understand now. But after you've reached Kamakura and come to realize what diclonius really are, and then I will tell you. As to what pertains to Lucy, she is the one who killed me, and I want revenge. After I died, I woke up here. Soon, I learned how to communicate to you, and here we are.**

"So you want me to do your dirty work for you, huh?" Sakuroka said indignantly.

**Sakuroka, Lucy is very dangerous. She doesn't go toward the normal diclonius standards. Diclonius are only supposed to kill humans, yet she killed me. If we want our species to survive, we need to kill her. Only then can you become the new queen.**

That last part was what grabbed Sakuroka with a hard clasp around her throat. Queen? What exactly did that mean? Whatever it meant…she liked the sound of it.

"What do you mean by…the new queen?" she asked me with the first of genuine interest.

**All in do time, **Tomo said with a smile. Before Sakuroka could say anymore, her eyes bolted open, and she once again found herself surrounded by the carnage of her own making.

"TOMO," she shouted to the woods. She got no response. All she heard was the creaking of crickets and other insects, mingled with an eerie silence of the dead. Sakuroka sat crossed legged, trying to wrap her mind around all this. Nothing made sense about who Tomoo and Lucy were, how Tomoo was now part of her mind, and what diclonius really were. But she knew there was only one way to find out.

Giving up on any more rest today, Sakuroka rose to her feet. She wanted answers…and she wanted them now. And she was going to get them, even if it killed her.


	4. Chapter 3: Tomo

If one were to try to describe in detail the sensation of being inside the subconscious mind of a diclonius, it would be a difficult task at best. You're both aware of yourself and your individual identity; yet, you feel like you're nowhere and everywhere. The body feels a tingling sensation that is familiar, but impossible to pin down with human description. The senses seem to magnify, yet are dulled. It's an ambiguous world, an endless void. However, there's one constant; the one inescapable detail of it is the eternal darkness…a darkness that whips at your back like the hungry eyes of a beast lurking in the depths, waiting to strike. And it's in that darkness where Tomo now sat, and had been sitting for the past two years. Sitting there in it, at an oddly unexpected point, reminded him of his old cell at the island facility. That darkness too had been just as eternal, and just as devouring. Although nostalgia had never been of interest to Tomo, he now found himself recalling those days with vivid delight. Filled with pain though they were, from the pain, he felt the darkness inside him. He always liked the darkness. It was comforting, protecting…and powerful. The only difference compared to back then was now he was free…free in the truest sense the word.

Death has been said to be the ultimate freedom, and now Tomo believed it. Now free from his body, no longer bound by hunger or fatigue, Tomo was released from the weaknesses of flesh; not to mention he was free from the pathetic humans and their miserable, rotting planet. It was through his time here that Tomo had realized his full powers more so than he ever could've dreamed when he was alive. Now, he was in complete control. Although he had to admit, he missed the voice that used to talk to him. And it didn't help that he now had a poor substitute in Sakuroka.

As Tomo watched the fruits of his planning unfold, he began thinking about how long he'd been here. He wasn't necessarily sure time even existed in this place; but he still wondered about the time nonetheless. It had must have been very long by now. He had grown so accustomed to being here that he almost forgot what living even felt like. Even some of his memories of his past became slightly blurred.

The last thing he remembered before dying was the sound of rushing wind as his limp body fell off the cliff, tumbling quickly toward what would be a watery grave. He hit the sea with exploding impact, though his body was too numb to feel it. He floated there for a moment...face down, looking down into the abyss below, and then…nothing. Eternities seemed to flash by like seconds, as thousands of lifetimes passed through him in mere moments. Then, without warning, he woke up in this place. At first, he was confused; certain this must be Hell. But then, he realized his clothes were different, and undamaged. He felt the crown of his head and felt that his horns had grown back. Looking at a strand of his hair in his hand, it too had returned to its natural pink color. Tomo began to wander around the place, shouting for someone to tell him where he was, unsure if anyone could even hear him. After days (or at least it felt that way) of wandering, he stumbled upon someone.

She appeared as suddenly as a bolt of lightening. The little girl stood motionless and naked in front of him…same pink hair, same two horns.

"Who the hell are you?" Tomo demanded.

"I was never given a real name," the girl answered quickly, "But they used to call me Number 3." Her answer startled Tomo briefly. Number 3? That could mean only one thing.

"You mean," he started, but was unable to finish.

"Yes," Number 3 said, "I too was once at the island facility. And like you, I am dead."

"What is this place?" Tomo asked her in bewilderment.

"This is the source," she told him.

"The source?"

"Yes, the source." Number 3 proceeded to explain to Tomo everything that the source was, its origins, its purpose, and its powers…powers that Tomo now possessed. With every passing second, the fog became clearer, and Tomo's devilish smile grew wider and broader.

"I can actually do that now," Tomo asked with excitement.

"Yes, you can," Number 3 answered, "Without the source, no such thing would be possible for any diclonius. All the history of the diclonius is locked away in here. You might think of it as a library. And now, all this information is yours."

"But what about you and the others like you here? Surely there must be more?" Tomo asked.

"I am merely a shadow…a small piece of the source. But you are the king. You are a much bigger piece, so now you have control of the source. I am simply a part of it, and have come to explain everything to you. Now, I must leave."

Slowly, Number 3 faded into the surrounding shadows and was gone. Tomo just stood silently, unmoving. Looking at the palms of his hands, Tomo began to quietly chuckle. Then, it turned into a small laugh. Before long, he was cackling madly. His death had been more useful to him than anything that had ever happened to him.

It the months to follow, Tomo began learning more about the source. Accessing the information that Number 3 said was hidden here was harder than he thought at first. Unlike a real library, he couldn't just look it up in a catalog. Rather this info was now locked inside himself. At first, all he could find was useless bits of info…memories of past diclonius as well as other meaningless things. But soon, he began to find the info he was looking for. As he sat there in the dark studying diligently, he learned more about diclonius and their true purpose more than he had known while alive. And after many more months of mastering his newfound powers, he was ready to set his plan in motion.

Tomo looked on as Sakuroka walked briskly toward Kamakura, laughing at her naivety the whole way. Here a strange voice had spoken to her, told her many things that it refused to explain, telling her to kill a total stranger, and yet she believed every word of it. Now, she obediently did as she was told, walking to Kamakura to help with Tomo's plan, albeit by default. She had acted so much in according with his predictions it almost disappointed him. At least before, he had a few unexpected surprises. However, she needed only to do as she was told. Lucy was a much bigger part of this than Sakuroka. Once Sakuroka completed her task, she would no longer be needed.

Until then, Tomo would just sit and watch as the pieces to his play slowly fall into place. While they did, he would wonder if, once he arrived, if Lucy would be happy to see him again.

* * *

><p>It was a small drizzle, yet it felt as if the rain was coming down with even more vigor now than when it had started earlier this afternoon. The sky was an endless field of gray clouds; a sign that the rain wasn't going to end any time soon. The warm air now had a small chill, forcing some to cling to their light jackets tightly to keep their body heat in. It was certainly odd weather for spring, but most paid it no mind other than a small irritant to the pleasant string of nice weather they had been blessed with recently. Walking home from the Super-Mart, Lucy clung to the center of her umbrella with a small plastic bag of groceries in one hand, while the other held up the umbrella. She shivered in the cold as a gust of wind helped some rain get under her umbrella and slightly dampen her jeans. Stepping in several puddles, the water seeped through the bottom of her shoes, soaking her socks. Lucy hated weather like this. It wasn't because this kind of weather was gloomy and it often depressed her, as rainy days like this often did. Today, this weather seemed coldly ominous.<p>

It had been a little over a week since Lucy had begun to notice a change in her diclonius powers, and it had only gotten worse since then. Ever since Lucy noticed that her ability to sense other diclonius had weakened, she found herself pondering about it more and more. She didn't know exactly why, but something about this was greatly disturbing her. In all honesty, she should have no more need for any of her powers. She wasn't planning on fighting anymore, let alone killing anyone. So why should she care whether or not her powers vanish? All the same, it made her uneasy. Her distress was only magnified when a few days later she attempted to use her vectors…only to find she could barely control them. Ever since her final fight with Tomo, she had abstained from using her vectors unless the situation proved convenient. This particular time, she was reaching for a glass that was on the top shelf in the kitchen. Remembering that something was wrong with her powers, Lucy thought this a good time to further test if something was wrong with her. She soon learned that summoning the vectors proved to be no problem, but rather maintaining was. They constantly convulsed against her will, and they would vanish quickly, reappear, and then quickly disappear again. It felt as if Nana were doing her vector trick over and over again. When Lucy tried to pick up the glass cup, she found it even harder when trying to balance an object in her hands. Her vectors shook so violently the cup was thrown clear across the room, where it fell to the floor and shattered into countless shards of glass. It was then Lucy became certain. Something was very…VERY wrong.

Lucy was only thankful nobody was around to notice anything. She had made Nana promise not to tell anything to anyone, as Lucy was deeply concerned with letting Mayu, or Kohta especially know what was going on. She didn't want anyone to worry about her. Hell, she was worried enough for all four of them. The concern plagued her like a disease. It followed her every hour of the day, and it was getting harder to pretend nothing was wrong. She had long lost count of how many times Mayu or Kohta had asked her if something was wrong. And while Nana knew what was eating Lucy, she often cast worried glances at Lucy when no one was looking. Even Yuka and Nyu seemed to notice something, as they felt more subdued in her arms.

_Why is this happening now, _she thought to herself, stepping in another puddle, splashing water on the bottom legs of her pants. _And just things were starting to get good._

Finally arriving at the front gate of Kaeda House, Lucy felt something was off. Looking at the house, she noticed that all the lights were out. It was so cloudy and gloomy outside that Kohta and the others had turned on all the lights when she had left. So why would the lights be turned out now? Lucy slowly closed the gate behind her, not taking her eyes off the front door. She cautiously stepped heel to toe toward the door. She looked to see if Wanta might be in his doghouse and offer up any sort of clue. However, the doghouse was empty. Lucy listened closely for any signs of barking on the inside. Nothing…only the sound of silence. Reaching the front door, Lucy carefully opened the front door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind her.

"Hello," she called out to the darkness. She could barely see a thing. Slowly, she looked around, trying to force her eyes to break the darkness. Then suddenly…

"SURPRISE!"

The front corridor lights came on in a flash, as everyone stood at the base of the steps, yelling at the exact same time that the lights came on. Lucy fell backwards with a hard thud on her butt, dropping both the bag of groceries and the umbrella. The contents of the bag spilled out over the floor, while Mayu and Kohta stared at her with surprise. Nana was in a fit of giggles, which she tried to hide.

"Are you ok?" Kohta asked, rushing to help Lucy to her feet.

"I'll tell you once my heart rate slows down," Lucy answered, taking his hand as he pulled her up. Back on her feet, Lucy surveyed the surroundings more carefully. Hanging from one end of the staircase to the other was a small, simple pink banner with _Happy Birthday Lucy _scrolling across it in blue letters.

"What's all this?"

"Don't you remember? Today's your birthday, you dope," Kohta laughed. Lucy checked the date in her head, and sure enough, it was her birthday. She had been so completely absorbed by her concerns she had totally forgot. In truth though, nobody really knew when Lucy's real birthday was. However, some time back, Kohta had suggested that they designate the day he and Yuka found Nyu on the beach as Lucy's official birthday. Out of convenience, Lucy and the others agreed. Had it already been that long since she was reunited with Kohta on that sandy shore? Looking at everyone's smiles instantly lifted Lucy's spirits, and for a moment, she totally forgot about what had been bothering her in the first place.

"I guess I forgot," Lucy said, returning a grateful smile to them. They were ushered into the dining room, where a delicious looking cake and a small pile of gifts waited for Lucy. Nyu and Yuka sat in their baby seats, and even they appeared to be wishing their mother a happy birthday in their own special way. They reached against the restraints of their chairs, desperately wanting their mother to hold them in her arms. They all sat down at the table and proceeded to devour the cake. Mayu had bought the cake herself from the bakery she used to go to when she was homeless, and the cake was divine. The fluffiness of it seemed to melt in your mouth, and the icing wasn't overly sweet. After they had finished their cake, they passed around gifts. Lucy opened Mayu's first, who had gotten for her a nice little manicure kit, along with some fresh lotions. Next was Nana's present, which was what appeared to be a homemade painting of the whole family. The painting was rather clumsy, as Lucy didn't really know which angle you were supposed to look at it from, but she appreciated it all the same. She gave them both hugs and thanked them for their presents. And finally, it was Kohta's turn. His was in the smallest box of them all. Lucy unwrapped it, revealing a small navy blue box. She removed the lid to find a single silver necklace inside. Encrusted all along the necklace were tiny small, clear crystals that shined like the moon.

"I…it's…"

Lucy didn't know what to say. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her life.

"I hope you know how much I had to work at the university to afford to pay for that," Kohta said jokingly as he took the necklace and placed it around Lucy's neck. As Lucy looked at her reflection in the mirror Kohta had…accidentally left out on the table, she couldn't stop the tears from falling freely down her face.

"Thank you all so much. You don't know how much this means to me," Lucy said in-between sobs. Nyu made a few gurgling sounds and reached out for her mother. Lucy walked over to her seat and picked her up into her arms. Nyu smiled and laughed as she played with Lucy's new necklace with her tiny little arms. Yuka started getting a little antsy, so with some help from Mayu, Lucy picked her up as well and held both of her girls in her arms. As they both laughed, Lucy pulled them in for a gentle hug.

"I love you too, Yuka...Nyu."

* * *

><p>Her body was completely soaked at this point, but that didn't bother her at all. With steadfast conviction, she walked through the brush, pushing aside branches and bushes that were in her way. Her path was straight and unchanging…the path of someone who knew where they were going…the path of someone on a mission. This mysterious girl, with her pink hair and horns, had one day been called away to this place…drawn by a force larger then her, she left her mother and father behind without a second thought. She was certain by now they had probably reported her missing to the police, but no one was going to stop her. If the police eventually found her, she would just kill them and move on. She didn't worry about it though. Besides, if the police were any good, they would've found her by now. Or maybe her parents didn't care about her at all. Maybe they didn't report her missing at all. She was starting to believe what the voice had told her about her parents secretly hating her. And even if she didn't, the call was too strong to resist.<p>

Breaking through to the end of the woods, the girl looked down at a city along a shore. This was the place. This was Kamakura. Glancing down at the city, she could the presence she was called to eliminate. Lucy was down there somewhere. The girl shivered briefly, as she felt the power coursing within her queen. However, it'd be wrong to say this was a shiver out of fear. Rather, she shivered in anxious anticipation. She was really looking forward to this.

As the rain began to grow heavy, the girl started down the slick path toward the city, and an unsuspecting Lucy.


	5. Chapter 4: Fight

Gazing through the scopes of his long-range binoculars, Agent #1771, codename FOX, sat atop an old abandoned warehouse a good 50 meters from the target's current location inside her home. Crouching low to the roof so nobody from the street could see him, he observed the subject with diligence. Through the circular lenses, he followed her as loyally as a shadow, making sure to keep an eye out for any sign of strange behavior or activity. However, her activity was as normal as that of any typical family in Japan. So at this point, he was almost wishing for something to happen. At least then he'd have something cool to watch. His organization had been monitoring this girl, codenamed ANGEL, and her family for some time now. Ever since her escape from Kakuzawa's lab and her encounter two years ago with the rogue specimen Tomo, she remained of great interest to the higher ups. For the past couple years however, her activity had been minimal and deemed unimportant, so they forfeited tracking her by the usual means. Instead, they followed her every move by satellites, well-hidden cameras all over the Kamakura area, as well as other second-hand means. It was even starting to look like tracking her would soon be abandoned altogether. However, certain events had occurred in the last couple of months, and they could no longer ignore them or her. Again, they'd have to send in a field man. When he had received his orders a few weeks ago, he was full of anticipation and excitement for his first solo field mission. Ready to impress, he accepted the mission without a second thought or hesitation. The first few days of observing her were fun. Watching the target from a distance, he felt important. At times, he even found himself remembering the days when he would play pretend soldier as a child at the training facility. However, the feeling quickly vanished after he realized how tedious recon really was. Perhaps he should've read the mission statement in greater detail. Where was all the action and explosions you saw in the movies? Being a soldier, it seemed, was a bit more mundane than he dreamed.

Night was beginning to fall, so FOX switched on the night vision function of his binoculars. Instantly, all the bodies in the house became silhouettes of red, orange, and yellow while the rest of the environment turned a dark green. It was another hour before the family finally sat down to dinner, and even from this distance, whatever they were eating looked good. FOX licked his lips, thinking about how he hadn't eaten in hours. He still had some rations left in his pack that he could eat, but like a dutiful soldier, he would keep watch until his designated break. Besides, observing the target was far more important than food at the moment. He heard a small ringing inside his helmet, signaling an incoming transmission. Sighing with relief, he answered the call before the first ring finished, eager for a break.

"FOX standing by," he answered at attention as he pressed a button on the side of his helmet, connecting the call. It was a fancy piece of hardware. The helmet contained a microchip that acted much like a cellular phone. All he had to do to answer and disconnect the call was pressed a single button on the side of his helmet. And even better, only he could hear the transmission, and it was encrypted, ensuring no eavesdroppers.

"This is Commander Bishop," said a gruff voice from the other line.

"Please tell me your calling to relieve me," FOX groaned.

"You signed up for this mission soldier, so why are you complaining?" Bishop scolded. FOX smiled at himself…same old commander. He had known the commander for his entire life, and despite being rough around the edges, he was always something of a father to him. Even though he acted tough, FOX knew from experience that the commander also had a kind side. The commander was a man with a good heart, yet was tough as nails when the situation called for it. FOX looked up to him, and hoped one day to be as good a soldier as him.

"Sorry sir," FOX apologized, "It's just I expected this to be more, I don't know...fun, like the video games I used to play."

"Don't be an idiot! War is nothing like a game," the commander rebuked.

"Yeah, yeah…I know." FOX quickly answered, shrugging off the rebuke. Even though he looked up to the man, that didn't mean he was in a particular hurry to be yelled again for the umpteenth billion time.

"We're calling to inform you of an unknown specimen heading toward the target," Bishop stated. FOX's body stiffened.

"Do we have a fix on the source," he asked, now deadly serious.

"It's at least a few miles away from the target," Bishop answered, "But we're certain they're heading toward the target."

"How can you be sure?" FOX asked.

"The path's as straight as the interstate. That tells me they know where they're going," the commander answered grimly. FOX knew what he meant by that.

"Is it one of them?" FOX queried.

"We aren't sure yet, but it is another diclonius for sure," replied Commander Bishop.

"Do you want me to engage the target?" FOX inquired.

"Negative! You are to continue your observations as normal. However, we do want you to move in closer. Keep an eye out for this specimen," ordered the commander.

"WHAT?" FOX shouted, causing a few people from the street to look up. He was more than shocked at this rash decision. The target was far too valuable to allow a possible threat to harm her. "But why sir?"

"We still do not yet know who this diclonius is or of their intentions. Getting a closer observation may serve to answer a few of our questions. You are to observe the contact of these two and report what you see. Is that clear?" the commander stated.

"Yes sir," FOX answered instantly.

"And soldier...be careful," Bishop added just as the transmission was terminated. FOX's mind was too busy racing to even notice the commander's quick moment of concern for his safety. Leaving this new outside force to do as it pleased was in his mind very dangerous. But orders were orders. Packing up his equipment to move closer, FOX started to feel bad that he wished for something exciting to happen. Quietly leaping from one rooftop to the next, he prayed that Lucy would be ok.

* * *

><p>The night was perfect for an after dinner walk. The storm that had hit them a few hours prior had past, leaving in its wake a cloudless night sky, decorated with a million diamonds. The air was warm and refreshing. The moon hung high in the sky, shining its pale light down to illuminate Lucy's way. After dinner, Lucy had told the others she was going to go out for a small walk. She didn't really know why, but she got the sudden urge to go for a walk. Even more odd was that she refused Kohta's offer to accompany her. She just felt liking taking a walk by herself. She didn't know why she wanted to be alone, but whatever her reasons, she still enjoyed it. It was difficult to walk though, as Lucy constantly found herself looking down and examining the necklace Kohta had bought her. Just the sight of it made her smile. And it wasn't due to its value or its beauty. It was what it represented that made her happy…just as the music box and the elephant he bought her at the zoo once (which was now Nyu's favorite toy) made her equally happy. They all represented Kohta's love for her. Of course, the fact that the necklace was quite pretty didn't hurt either.<p>

She stopped underneath a streetlamp, admiring the sparkle of the gems in the necklace as they danced in the light. Her recent surprise birthday party had done wonders to her mood. She'd almost forgotten what had even worried her in the first place. And when it did return to her mind, it was just as quickly shoved back out. Nothing could penetrate this renewed feeling of happiness Lucy felt. Or at least, that was what Lucy thought.

Resuming her walk, Lucy stepped out of the lamp's light and back into the pale moonlight. Instantly, she turned on her heel, thinking she heard something. However, looking back, there was nothing there. Lucy simply shrugged, telling herself it must have been a stray animal of some kind. Turning a corner moments later, Lucy felt the same feeling of being followed. Again she spun round, and again was greeted by the blackness of the night. Lucy stared into the shadows a moment, willing herself to see in the dark but saw nothing. Lucy went back to her walk, a little more cautious now than she was before. Trying to calm herself, Lucy began to whistle the Lilium tune. However, the tune seemed more ominous than calming now. Suddenly...Lucy felt a familiar sensation she knew all too well. It could only be one thing.

A diclonius.

She dove out of the way as the concrete where she once stood shattered into pieces. Rolling onto her knees, she looked for the source of the random attack. All the while, wondering why her diclonius powers would suddenly come back now, and so conveniently.

"Come out," she demanded to whoever had attacked her. Without waiting, a girl acrobatically leaped out from behind a bush, landing swiftly on her feet. The girl looked very young, even younger then Mayu or Nana. She couldn't possibly have been a day over twelve or thirteen years old. Standing there in the dark, the two simply glared daggers at each other for the longest time.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Lucy asked her forcefully. The girl didn't answer. "I said who are you?" Lucy tried again. Again, she got no reply from the girl. She just hung her head low, her face obstructed by her pink hair.

"Are you Lucy?" the girl finally asked, breaking a long silence.

"Who's asking?" Lucy replied. If Lucy weren't so completely focused on her opponent, keeping an eye out for any sudden movement, she might have been shocked that this complete stranger knew her name. It's a good thing she did, because nanoseconds after her reply, the mysterious girl used her vectors to launch herself at Lucy with amazing force. Lucy was barely able to jump out of her path. The girl was heading face first for a solid brick wall, but she used her other vectors to cushion her flight and stop her before she hit the wall. The impact left a huge dent in the brick wall where her vectors had stopped her.

"You dodged that very well. You must be her," the girl said as she turned to face Lucy. Lucy's mind was a jumble of many different questions hitting her at once. Who was this girl? Why was she after her? Why did she suddenly get her powers back? Before she had time to answer or even consider the questions, the girl again used her vectors to viciously dive for Lucy like a wild predator. Lucy was again able to dodge out of the way, but not before one of the girl's other vectors attempted a quick slash. The attack came within inches of Lucy, leaving a small cut on her cheek. As Lucy came out of her roll, she had little time to rest, as her attacker used her vectors to springboard herself off a tree and back again at her. She was coming too fast for Lucy to dodge, so Lucy braced herself for the contact. The girl hit her with a devastating spear to the stomach, forcing Lucy back until she hit the wall behind her. Lucy coughed up a small puddle of blood as she fell to her knees, and the mystery diclonius jumped back. She looked down at Lucy, admiring her work with a sick smile.

"Is that the best you can do? You know, for the queen you're not very strong are you?" the girl chided. Lucy gritted her teeth in anger. First, she was being attacked; now she was being insulted.

"Hardly," she replied with conviction. Lucy's vectors shot out of her back and pounced on the girl in front of her. The girl sensed the attack and jumped to the side. Lucy's vectors continued to chase her, but the girl was very good at running away. In and out, she would dive between the vectors, always coming close, but not close enough for Lucy to get hold of her. Finally, the girl had lost some of her balance on one particular leap from a small puddle of water. It didn't look like she was going to be able to recover in time, so clenching a fist with her vector, Lucy landed a hard right hook with her invisible hand. The girl fell to the ground hard, skidding across the pavement until she came to a stop. Rising to her feet, the girl wiped away a small trickle of blood crawling down her lip.

"Not bad," she said with a smile. "But not good enough."

Lucy was hit hard in the back of the head by a strong force. The girl had extended her vector without Lucy knowing and struck with a hard punch in the back of the skull. The blow sent Lucy face first into the sidewalk. Looking up, Lucy saw the girl coming down on top of her, ready for the killing blow. She rolled to the side just as the girl came down on the exact spot she'd been. The girl's vectors shattered the ground, and several small pieces of concrete scraped and cut Lucy's arms and legs. Lucy pushed the girl back, forcing her head to come in hard contact with a tree branch. While the girl lay in a daze, Lucy looked around for anything she might be able to use as a projectile. There was nothing around to which Lucy could use. The only things were the trees that lined the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the girl noticed this at the same time as Lucy. The girl ripped of a branch of the tree she just hit, creating a rather sharp improvised spear. She hurdled it with blinding speed at Lucy. Lucy avoided the worst of the spear, but a small piece of the end tore through the side of her stomach. Clutching the gash, Lucy fell to the ground in pain.

"Kill Lucy! Kill Lucy," the girl began to shout as she stalked toward her prey. Unable to think of anything to do to defend herself, Lucy bolted to her feet and took off for the beach. With how this fight was going, it'd be best for her to get away from any densely populated areas. The girl quickly gave chase. It was rather hard for Lucy to think up a feasible strategy while running for her life, with shards of street exploding next her, hearing the girl shout curses at her back. However, she had to think of something, and she had to think of it fast. The running was making the gash in her side ache with every trudging step. But she had to keep moving. She gripped her wound tightly, hoping to stop the bleeding and numb a small part of the pain.

As Lucy reached the city limits, she was thankful to see that almost nobody was out tonight. The few that were could be easily avoided. Those that did see them couldn't see anything but a quick flash of pink as two girls dashed past them. They merely shrugged and quickly lost interest. Lucy was nearing the beach. She could help but notice that fate seemed to tie her to this place rather tightly. So much had happened her on this beach. It was now appearing to be inescapable, as she was about to add one more memory to this sandy shore. She quickly turned in the sand, ready to face her opponent. She still didn't have much of a plan, but she couldn't keep running forever. The girl stopped exactly two and a half meters in front of her.

"So you've decided to stop running," the girl jested at her, clearly trying to provoke an enraged attack. "So then you're not a coward...you're just stupid." Lucy ignored her, knowing what she wanted.

"Who are you?" she asked again. The next time she attacked, she would have to be serious. However, she wanted to see if she could get some answers out of the girl first. Lucy looked around, thankful she had picked this spot. The beach was clean of anything the girl could use as a projectile. This meant that this fight would now be nothing but a brawl between their vectors. And Lucy knew that was her best chance of victory. The girl briefly smiled at the question.

"My name is not important…especially to those who are about to die," the girl said simply.

"What do you mean," Lucy probed.

"Not too smart either are you? You know...kill. It means you stop breathing, to kick the bucket, pushing up daises, six feet under. Take your pick," the girl insulted.

"But why do you want to kill me? I've never seen you before in my life," Lucy queried while formulating a strategy to deal with the girl.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that I have the calling to kill you. So I will," the girl declared.

"You're going to kill me over something as stupid as that?" Lucy asked sharply.

"We're diclonius your majesty. Killing is what we do best. Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten this fact. And the voice doesn't like that. So-" the girl retorted.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Lucy interrupted. She didn't know if she had heard that right, but did the girl say the voice?

"The voice…it was the voice that told me to kill you. It said you've strayed too far from the diclonius way and deserve to die. Otherwise, our kind will perish. So, I have come here to kill you. And when I do, I'll become the new queen." The girl began to laugh sadistically as Lucy look on in horror. This girl was mad. Even worse was the mysterious voice that supposedly pushed the girl this far. The voice could only be one thing. But why would it tell the girl to kill her? The girl stopped laughing and ran at a full sprint toward Lucy. Lucy used her vectors to get a handful of sand and throw it in the girl's face. The girl stopped in mid run, clenching her eyes shut from the stinging sand in her eyes. Her vectors flung about wildly while she used her real hands to get the sand out of her eyes. Lucy looked for an opening between her flying vectors. She saw one, and advanced for it. However, the girl's vectors were spinning too quickly, and Lucy was met with a hard, but unintentional hit to the side of the gut that sent her to the ground.

Her attacker quickly recovered, and leaped for her. She landed on top of Lucy, and the two rolled around on top of each other in the sand. Lucy raised her feet and kicked the girl hard in the chest to force her off. A tightly clenched vector was coming down on Lucy, but Lucy dodged the blow as it kicked a wave of sand into the wind. Lucy was quickly going on the defensive, as she tried to dodge attack after attack. Her moves were quickly becoming slower and sloppier the more she ran, and each attack came closer and closer. Lucy was getting tired and she wouldn't last much longer. She had to end this now. All four of the girl's vectors launched out at Lucy together in perfect unison. Like a sports team with perfect teamwork, they came at her from all sides, blocking her in.

"Nowhere to run now," the girl said as the vectors slowly moved in for the kill, "NOW YOU DIE!" She launched all four like a bullet at Lucy. At the last minute, Lucy used her own vectors to push herself into the air. As the girl's vectors met in the center of their hunting circle, Lucy was coming down gently in front of the girl. Lucy had softly pushed herself upward so that she would merely jump over the vectors and quickly come down in front of her opponent. The girl did not have enough time to react or counter. With a swiftness that came from years of practice, Lucy inserted a vector in the back of the girl's neck and severed her spinal cord from her brain. The girl fell backwards; her eyes glossed over and pale. Her vectors vanished, and she was no more.

Lucy double over and collapsed to her knees, breathing hard from exhaustion and relief. She looked at the girl, examining to see there were no wounds that could be linked to a diclonius. No doubt, this would be on the news within the week. She didn't want Kohta or the others to find out about what happened. She would have to think up a good excuse in a few minutes. Her wounds were going to be hard enough to explain. But then, something odd happened.

Lucy felt a surge of strength returning to her. The tension that ate at her muscles was rapidly dissipating. She felt her body becoming more relaxed and free. Even the gash in her side was healing together. The bleeding had stopped, and the skin was reforming to seal the wound. What was stranger still was that once at full strength again, Lucy could feel her power still rising…far beyond anything she had ever felt before. Her body had become a vacuum of some kind, and it seemed to be drawing in some power or presence from the air. Then it stopped, and Lucy felt perfectly fine. Apart from a small rip in her shirt, no one would have thought anything had happened to her. Lucy looked over herself, feeling so full of power. She extended her vectors, and was even more shocked to find that instead of having four...Lucy now had five vectors. She decided to test this new feeling and pushed them out to their full length, only to find that all five went past two meters. It wasn't much of a difference, but they were definitely longer than earlier.

Wide-eyed, Lucy looked at her victim beneath her feet, wondering what was going on. Now, more then ever, Lucy was certain something bad was happening not only to her, but other diclonius in Japan, possibly around the world. Lucy gave the girl a pitying expression, a quick bow of apology, and climbed up the stairs heading to Kaeda House. Somehow, Lucy had the sinking feeling that this wasn't over.

* * *

><p>FOX looked on in disbelief at what he had just witnessed. The fight between these two diclonius had been the most intense thing he'd ever seen in his years on the field. It had been more than difficult to keep up with them and not be seen as the queen ran from her pursuer toward the beach where the fight had just ended. The queen was now running down the sidewalk back where she came, leaving the body behind. He had followed her every move, astonished at her ferocity. He was starting to understand why the organization and so many others had such a keen interest in this woman. FOX waited until she was out of sight before climbing out of his hiding spot and cautiously walking toward the one who had lost the battle. Lightly, he picked up her arm to see if there was a pulse. There wasn't. The girl was undoubtedly dead. He looked her over and saw no gashes, no cuts, and no exit or entrance wounds of any kind. This was the kill of a person who knew how to use her vectors. Turning on the radio in his head, FOX contacted his superior officer.<p>

"Commander," he said into his helmet radio.

"What is it?" Commander Bishop's voice answered almost before FOX had even finished.

"The unknown specimen and the target just made contact. There was a struggle between the two. And let me tell ya...this was one hell of a struggle," FOX reported.

"Who survived," the commander asked, his voice full of concern.

"The target," FOX answered. He heard the commander heave a sigh of relief, and he knew exactly how the man felt. "I'll send you a live feed of the girl." FOX switched on the visor of his helmet to the live feed so that the base could see exactly what he saw. Looking directly at the girl's face, there was a brief moment of silence while the commander looked up the girl's profile if one existed.

"Got it," the commander said.

"What is it?" FOX asked.

"Her name is Midori Shinomaru. She's one of the diclonius that have gone missing all over Japan," Bishop answered. "Just as I thought."

"What's that mean?" FOX asked, not liking the way that sounded.

"We've noticed on our scanners a number of diclonius seemingly headed toward the same area. They all seemed to be heading to Kamakura. We weren't certain who these diclonius were, or of their intentions. However, we had a theory that the missing diclonius were all converging toward Kamakura for some reason. Earlier tonight, we caught one on the scanner entering Kamakura. Before we acted, we need to know more about these diclonius." Everything was now beginning to make sense to FOX now. The reason he had been ordered not to make contact was that they needed to fully understand what this rogue diclonius was after.

"Thanks to your observations, if the others are anything like this one, we now know what their after. Return to base at once solider. The operation has become more complicated. We need to re-think our course of action for the rest of the operation." The radio clicked out and went silent. FOX looked up at the sky, a sea of sparkling diamonds before him. Removing his helmet, a shoulder length patch of pink hair fell to his shoulders. He began to worry about how these events would play out. Scratching the tip of his horns, he looked down with despair at the girl. He never liked seeing a member of his own kind end up like this. However, he guessed that was the fate of all diclonius like her. He reached down with his palm and closed her eyes. Now she looked as if she were in a deep sleep. Now, at least she looked at peace.

"Rest comfortably," he said in a predatory manner. Then, he quickly jumped to his feet, gathered his equipment, and headed back for the rendezvous point where a helicopter would soon be arriving to pick him up and take him back to base.


	6. Chapter 5: Doubt

Nana began to get exceedingly worried as the evening deepened. Lucy had been out for her nightly walk for much longer than usual. Normally, such a thing would be little cause concern. However, the fact that Lucy was out longer than normal coupled with the sensation Nana had of another diclonius being nearby was very troubling. When the feeling hit her in her room, she nearly fell out of her chair sideways while trying to read one of the easy reader books Mayu had check out for her at the Kamakura Public Library. Soon afterward, she sensed this new diclonius and Lucy had made contact. Somehow, Nana just knew they weren't going to make friendly conversation. Looking out her window trying to catch a glimpse of Lucy from the house, she quickly noticed it was too dark to see anything, even with all the street lamps. She sensed a struggle beginning and not too long afterwards, a chase ensued. Whether it was Lucy being chased or this other diclonius was unknown to Nana, which was maddening to her. Then, both of them had disappeared out of Nana's range, multiplying her worry. Downstairs, Nana cast frequent looks outside the curtains, hoping to see Lucy come in through the gate. Whenever Mayu or Kohta would ask if something was wrong, she'd force a smile and say everything was fine. They seemed vaguely aware of her lie as they'd cast an unsure glance at her before finally turning away.

Nana's first instinct was to go after Lucy and whoever might be after her. However, Nana didn't want to alarm Mayu or Kohta. Besides, someone needed to stay behind and guard the others in case something happened. But what if this diclonius came after her next? What would she do? A storm of uncertainty and fear raked her mind. Soon though, her uncertainty faded as a small feeling crept into her consciousness and slowly became stronger. She recognized this feeling as Lucy's signature, and thankfully, she was alone. Slowly, Lucy made her way back home as Nana's heart beat like an angry drummer. However, something felt odd about Lucy. Something felt different from before. She felt…stronger. Nana waited by the door, waiting for Lucy and eager to question her about what had happened.

"What're you doing?" Kohta asked as he passed by, Nyu cuddled lovingly in his arms. Nana jumped slightly, so focused on the door that she didn't notice him standing next to her.

"Oh, nothing," she said after calming down, "I'm just waiting for Lucy. She normally isn't out this long." Her half-truth to Kohta felt a tiny bit relieving.

"Yeah, I know. I wonder what could be keeping her," Kohta replied, sounding more curious rather than worried.

Almost on cue, Nana sensed Lucy coming in through the front gate as Wanta's loving barks greeted her. "Oh, I guess that's her now." Nana held her breath in her throat, nervous to see what damage Lucy might have suffered and how Kohta might react. However, when Lucy came through the front door, she saw that Lucy appeared to be just fine. The only semblance of any kind of struggle was a small, almost insignificant rip in her shirt's side. Lucy didn't look herself either. She looked dazed, as if she had wandered into the wrong house accidentally. Nana wished she could've rushed for Lucy and thrown her arms around her in relief, but she knew that would arouse suspicion from Kohta.

"Welcome back…how was your walk?" Kohta asked, too busy with Nyu to really notice anything out of place. Lucy quickly recovered from her vacant expression, putting on a much more casual one.

"It was nice," she answered plainly.

"You were gone longer than usual. How come?"

"Just thought I'd try a new route," Lucy lied. Nana didn't need her diclonius powers to know that something was deeply troubling Lucy. Lucy's strong effort to put on a calm exterior was proof enough of that.

"Yeah. What happened to your shirt," Kohta asked when he finally noticed the rip in Lucy's clothes. Even though the question was directed at her, Nana began to sweat nervously, wondering how Lucy was going to cover this one.

"Oh, I…uh tripped while I was out walking and I caught my side on a tree branch," Lucy answered quickly. Nana sighed in relief. Kohta asked Lucy if she was ok, to which Lucy assured him she was fine. Kohta turned to put Nyu back upstairs with her sister when he noticed Nana's sweating and trembling body.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

Nana didn't answer right away. She was so out of it she almost didn't hear him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I might be coming down with a fever."

Kohta placed a hand on her forehead to see if she was hot. After he affirmed she was not, he suggested that she go to bed early tonight and get plenty of rest, which Nana willingly accepted. Climbing the stairs to her room, Nana could feel the troubled stare of Lucy on her back.

As Nana lay in her bed late at night, she turned furiously under her sheets, unable to fall asleep…the day's mystery still heavy on her mind. However, more than that, she was waiting for an opportunity. She was certain Lucy couldn't sleep either. She could feel it from the other room. Eventually, Lucy would get out of bed and go downstairs to try to focus her mind on something else. It was then that Nana would ask her about it. Therefore, not wanting to risk waking up Kohta by going into their room to get her out, she waited. At 3:34 in the morning, she could hear the soft squeaks of footsteps on the wooden staircase. Nana waited for a couple minutes, allowing Lucy a few actual moments to herself before going down after her.

As she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she saw a pillar of light emanating from the kitchen doorframe, shedding a small ray of light in the otherwise dark hall. Nana crept to the kitchen door, finding Lucy leaning on the windowsill looking out at the moon and stars. She appeared to be lost in thought, not even aware that the teakettle was whistling loudly. Nana walked up and turned off the stove, pouring a cup of tea for herself and Lucy.

"I couldn't sleep," Lucy finally said after a moment, coming out of her zombie-like trance. She didn't need to turn around to see who was with her. Neither did she need to use her diclonius powers. Somehow, she just knew it was Nana. Nana handed Lucy her cup, which she kindly took. Silence reigned between the two for a long time while both proceeded to just sip their tea, both looking out into the night.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nana finally asked, taking that first plunge into the unknown. Lucy remained silent a moment before she finally answered.

"I don't know," she began shakily. She didn't turn to face Nana, but rather looked longingly at the sky, as if she might find an answer written in the stars. Nana stayed silent, quietly urging Lucy to continue. "When I was out walking, I was attacked by another diclonius. They told me that some voice had commanded them to find me and kill me. I fought her, and killed her. And I feel guilty for it. I know it was out of self-defense, but still. I thought I was past that. I never wanted to kill again. But it seems I can still kill so easily." Through half sobs, Lucy spoke these words, each word pricking her heart. Lucy's entire body shuddered as she tried to hold herself from falling into a sobbing fit. "But after that, all my wounds magically healed, and I found myself getting stronger. My vectors became longer, and I even gained a new one. I just…I don't know what's going on anymore. I feel like everything is just coming apart. Just when I obtained the life I always wanted…a loving home with a nice family, I now find myself waking up to realize it was only a dream. I can't tell Kohta or Mayu. It would only worry them. I didn't even want you to know. And what's worse, I have this foreboding feeling that the worst is still yet to come. I don't know what to do anymore." Nana stood there in stunned silence as Lucy poured out her heart. Nana was both hurt at Lucy's dilemma, and yet touched that Lucy had opened up to her. Sure, they had become close friends over these past few years, but even then, Lucy had never opened up to her…not like this. Lucy had always been something of a reclusive person with anyone except Kohta. Nana put down her cold teacup and walked a few steps toward Lucy. The silence gave Nana a quick moment to think of a reply.

"Oh," was all she could muster. Nana took another moment to try to think of something less disappointing. "Lucy, I know we've never been overly close, but I want you to know that I hate to see you like this. I've never told you this, but these last couple of years I've looked at you as something of an older sister. You, Mayu, Kohta, the twins, everyone here is precious to me. Papa told me before he died to be happy and protect what makes me happy. So, if you ever need help, I want you to understand you can come to me, and I'll help you in anyway I can. I'll protect you and everyone here. We'll get through this together."

Lucy was overcome with emotion, unable to fight the tears any longer. She threw her arms around Nana in a tight embrace, letting the tears fall down her cheeks in gratitude. Nana held her, thinking that this was the first time the two of them had hugged like this. After a while, Lucy separated herself from Nana, rubbing the tears from her now throbbing eyes.

"Thank you," she said. Lucy had to admit, it felt good telling someone how she felt. It was as if a huge weight on her shoulders had been greatly reduced. Although she still carried it, it felt much easier now that she had someone to share it with. "Would you like another cup of tea?" Lucy asked.

"Yes please," Nana replied. "Oh, use all your vectors! I wanna see your new one," Nana suggested excitedly, like a young child eager to see a magic trick. Lucy shrugged inside her head, remembering that although Nana had the body of an eighteen year old, she was mentally only nine. She smiled, knowing Nana was only trying to lighten the mood with her innocent persona. When Nana put it like that, she guessed that her new powers were kind of cool.

"Ok, I guess," Lucy acquiesced. Nana cheered quietly as Lucy reached out with all five of her vectors, extending them past the usual two-meter limit. Lucy grabbed Nana's teacup from across the kitchen, using another to pull at the hot teakettle. However, Lucy suddenly found she was having trouble maintaining her vectors. She struggled against herself, trying to keep her hands in place. Soon, her vectors vanished into nothing, and with nothing holding them up, both the kettle and the cup dropped to the floor. The cup shattered as it hit the ground, and the kettle spilled hot water everywhere. Both Lucy and Nana jumped backwards to avoid the boiling water. The brief moment of relief Lucy felt at her and Nana's moment of bonding had shattered with the cup as reality sharply made its way back into her mind. Just a few hours ago, Lucy found she could call upon her invisible vectors with ease again without any difficulty. Now, she was back to having trouble with even the simplest of task with her vectors. But why was it happening?

"I…" Nana began, unsure of what to say. Lucy darted for her, placing both hands on Nana's shoulders and spinning her around to face her.

"Don't tell anyone about this, ok? You can't tell Kohta or Mayu! Do you understand? Just don't tell them!" Lucy was shaking Nana violently, a look of utter panic and distress on her face. Nana fought against Lucy's tight grip until she broke free, staring at Lucy, feeling completely helpless.

"I promise," she said.

"Not anyone, ok?" Lucy added sharply.

"Ok! I won't tell them." Nana didn't bother asking why this affected Lucy so much she wanted to hide it from the others. She had a good guess as to why. Together, and without speaking a word, Lucy and Nana cleaned up the mess and both went back upstairs to what would end up being a sleepless night. As Nana lay in her bed looking up at the ceiling, she told herself she'd have to stay on guard herself now. After tonight, she too was getting an increasingly sinking feeling that something bad was steadily getting closer.

* * *

><p>The small campfire licked the air with its jagged edge flames; its colors of orange and red dancing with little embers flying off into the night like fireflies. While the flames ate away at logs, Sakuroka stared into the fire, watching as it wrapped around the wood, almost as if trying to embrace it. One of the logs split because of the extreme heat, falling further into the fire, sending a large wave of embers into the night sky, only to quickly flicker out. As Sakuroka listened to the crackling logs, she savored its warmth. She sat with her legs curled up close to her chest, tugging them in closer with her arms. Resting her chin between her legs, she just stared blankly into the fire until she began to see images past the blaze. First, she saw the faces of the three young boys who tormented her. Their smiles were a cruel reminder of the life she left behind in that cursed city. The image soon shifted, transforming into the scene of their deaths. While she was glad to be rid of them, she couldn't say that knowledge made her particularly happy. In fact, it didn't make her feel anything.<p>

It was at moments like these when Sakuroka began to doubt her decision to go on this impromptu quest. Her life back in the city had not been enjoyable, so she was glad to be as far away from that city as possible. Moreover, the boys who had been most responsible for that misery were gone forever. None of these things made her feel sad and she felt no regret. However, she felt no happiness either. All she felt was a dead emptiness…a cruel indifference to the whole thing that felt strangely wrong. She questioned why this was so. Wasn't this supposed to make her happy? Wasn't this supposed to feel fulfilling? That's what the voice, Tomo, had promised. Yet, she felt neither of these things. Only a loose separation from any kind of feeling, and it scared her.

_**What's wrong**_, asked Tomo inside her mind.

"Nothing," Sakuroka lied. She should've known better. Being part of her mind, Tomo always knew when she was lying. Tomo said nothing to acknowledge the lie; he simply remained quiet, waiting for her to realize it was useless. "I'm just not as sure about this whole thing anymore."

_**What do you mean? **_Tomo asked, his echoing voice sounding somewhat put off.

"You told me when this started that when I killed Lucy, I'd become the new Queen. But I don't think I want that anymore," Sakuroka explained to Tomo.

_**What are you talking about; of course it's what you want. It's the only way you'll be free.**_

"But that's the thing. I don't feel free. I don't feel anything for that matter!" Sakuroka felt her temper rising like the heat from the small fire in front of her. She stood to her feet, looking across from her with an angry glare. She knew there was nobody there, but she needed to pretend there was. "I've been walking for who know how long now, and I'm still no closer to getting to Lucy than I when I started!"

_**We are close now. You just need to be patient**_, advised Tomo. His tone betrayed no panic, only calm.

"It's not only that, but these dumb powers! I've used them on those boys and killed them, and guess what, I'm still not happy! I thought you said killing would make me happy. So why isn't it?" Sakuroka asked furiously.

_**They were only three stupid teenage boys. You simply haven't killed enough to make any significant difference**_, Tomo countered. His replies were having no effect on her. If anything, it was making her more upset. She was getting tired of his coolness and his quick answers to all her questions. She was sick of his lack of any sign of once being alive or even real. To put it bluntly, she was just tired of him altogether.

"You know what, forget this," she said finally, packing up what few supplies she had left.

_**What do you think you're doing?**_ Tomo asked her, still showing no sign of worry.

"What's it look like, I'm leaving!" She stuffed her supplies angrily into a small backpack she had managed to swipe from a dumpster she'd past about a week ago. She smashed her hand a couple of times, hitting it hard against the canned foods she had inside, but she didn't care or notice it much. She needed this physical outlet for all her built up frustration. Finally packing her bag as much as she wanted, she left a few items behind out of misplaced spite.

_**You can't walk away.**_

"Watch me," Sakuroka said defiantly. Throwing the bag over her shoulders, she began a heavy power walk in the same direction from whence she came. Even in the dark, she could easily remember the path she had taken to get this far. For ten minutes, Tomo was silent, allowing Sakuroka to walk freely. At the time, Sakuroka thought that either Tomo had given up, or even better, that she was rid of him. However, no more then ten minutes into her attempted return, he spoke.

_**Very well**_, he said enigmatically. The words caused Sakuroka to stop dead in her tracks…partially because of the mystery of what he might have meant by that. However, that was pushed aside when she suddenly felt different somehow. At first, she didn't know how to describe what it was, but after a few minutes of thought, the best word she could think of was normal. She felt normal. After another few moments of thinking, she had an epiphany of what that might mean. She reached deep into her brain, using all her mental power to release one of her vectors. Yet nothing came. Sakuroka was astonished. She stood in the dark woods, smiling madly at herself. Leaping into the air, she thought that she had won. Now, released from the burden of her diclonius powers, she felt free.

Happily, she skipped along in the woods, knowing she must have looked silly, but it didn't matter. She was just so happy she couldn't help but skip. Coming to a nice wide clearing, she stopped in the center, looking up at yet another cloudless sky with every star one could possibly see. Admiring the beauty, she felt that nights such as these would be a happy memory she'd take from this fiasco of a trip.

"I think I saw her go this way," a mysterious voice said from behind her. Sakuroka turned her head quickly; curious as to whom it was behind her. A few moments later, several beams from flashlights shined in her face, blinding her and forcing her to cover her eyes to see. Even then, she couldn't get a detailed look at their faces, but she could tell there were at least five of them. From their height and the sound of their voices, they were all grown men not much older than thirty.

"I told you I saw one," said the first mysterious voice. A few of the beams were turned off, and Sakuroka was able to get a better look at them. She still couldn't see very well as her eyes quickly tried to adjust, but she could see they were all in street clothing, and a few of them carried thick wooden sticks in their hands. Sakuroka was not getting a good vibe from these people.

"You're another one of them, aren't you?" said a different member from the group, stepping out from the back.

"Another one of what?" Sakuroka asked, afraid of what the answer may be.

"Don't play dumb with us, it may be dark, but we can still see those horns and that pink hair! You're one of those freaks! You're one of those diclo-whatevers we hear about, aren't ya?" Sakuroka gulped, not liking the fact that he knew what she was, or the tone he was using. Slowly she tried to edge as far back as she could without their notice.

"What are you doing in our woods, little girl?" another one asked.

"I don't believe these woods belong to anybody," Sakuroka spat back. That was a big mistake. The man farthest in front walked up and backhanded her with his fist, sending her tumbling face first to the ground, a small cut now open on her lips. As Sakuroka looked up with fear in her eyes, the dark night seemed to get much darker as it crowded around these men.

"We don't want your kind here!"

"Yeah, don't think we don't know what you are!"

"You're a monster!"

"We're not going to let you hurt anyone from our town!" All the men began shouting at once, forcing Sakuroka's mind into a panic-stricken state. As her tension reached its limit, she clenched her eyes, summoning her vectors with all her might to kill the men and defend herself. Or at least, she tried. No matter how much she willed it, her vectors just wouldn't come. Now, she was a normal girl with horns sticking out of her head. She was completely defenseless and at their mercy.

One of the men stepped forward, raising the stick in hand. He struck Sakuroka on the leg, bruising her skin. She doubled over in pain, clasping the spot on her leg that stung has if she'd been stabbed. Some of the others quickly joined in, using their clubs to strike at various parts of Sakuroka's body. She curled herself into a fetal position, covering her head with her arms and keeping her eyes tightly closed. Once their sticks had broken, the men then proceeded to stomp at her with their feet, all the while shouting curses at her.

"Freak!"

"Monster!"

"We don't want you here!"

It seemed like hours before the men finally stopped, looking down at their prey with utter disdain and hatred. Sakuroka went limp; her eyes now full of tears. She held back her sobs however, afraid that if they caught her crying, it might give them further incentive to assault her. Her body was heavily bruised, but nothing life threatening and she wanted to keep it that way.

"Come on," said a voice from the group. From the presence and tone his voice gave off, it was clear he must have been the leader. "That's enough. I think she gets the point." There was a moment of silence, followed by the shuffling of feet as they left Sakuroka where she lay. One member of the group got one final kick in Sakuroka's gut, almost causing her to pass out. "We better not see you anywhere near our town again! If you're not gone by morning, we won't be so nice," warned the leader as they all finally stepped behind the foliage and disappeared. Sakuroka lay there motionless, now sobbing in pain. As she did, she felt the feeling of her powers returning to her, and conversely, she felt Tomo. Her powers relieved some of her pain, but not enough to really matter.

_**Do you understand now?**_ Tomo asked her matter-of-factly

"Why did you do that to me?" she asked in tears. "You could've helped me, but you held my powers back. Why? Why would you do that?" Sakuroka wanted to scream at him, but her body was in so much pain even speaking as she did caused her muscles to split.

_**I did it so you would finally understand something.**_

"And what's that?"

_**That there is no escape...that no matter how hard you try, you can't run away from what you are. And what you are is a diclonius. You are a killer. Even if you could change it, what life is there to go back to? You saw just now what normal people think of you, and you already know how they think of homeless people. Only just now, you faced them as a human, and you were powerless to do anything to stop them. Look how that turned out. Turn away from this, and all you'll go back to is being a meaningless, homeless little girl. Go back and all you'll do is sift through the trashcans for food, be bullied by all those more powerful than you, and finally die an unnoticeable death in the gutter. However, if you do as I tell you, you'll become so much more then just a homeless girl, or even a diclonius. The power you'll gain will be able to keep you safe from men such as that. You'll never be bullied, or looked down upon again. It'll set you free Sakuroka…both of us.**_

"But why?" Sakuroka asked, "Why does this Lucy have to die for it? What did she ever do to me?"

_**She betrayed all diclonius is what she did! She allies herself with the humans that hate and scorn us. She could care less if you died right now. Moreover, if given the chance, she'll either take your powers from you, or just kill you outright. It's a simple choice; kill or be killed. You can go back home, lose your powers, and die a forgotten death, or you can go to Kamakura. What's it going to be? **_

Tomo's voice was commanding, yet small, assertive, and cool. Sakuroka weighed her options carefully. If she went back home, then this tiresome journey would finally be over. However, she was almost certain her life would be exactly as Tomo predicted it. She'd be tormented by a new, probably worse bunch of boys, be forever looked down at, and die without anyone's knowledge or sympathy. But if she did has he told her, she might have a chance to change her life. Yet, her gut told her not to trust this voice inside her head. It finally came down to one thing. Going back home would forever condemn her to the previous life she had, while going to Kamakura might (and that was a big might) give her the opportunity to change.

It took great amounts of reserve stamina for Sakuroka to rise to her feet. With every step she took back to her camp, she felt as if a wild beast were gnawing at her legs. Sakuroka knew she probably couldn't trust Tomo and that tragedy probably awaited her in Kamakura. But looking back at what her life had been so far, how could her fate in Kamakura possibly be any worse than what it already was?

* * *

><p>Surrounded by his fellow soldiers, human and diclonius alike, as well as some officers, FOX sat upright inside the giant meeting hall, awaiting Commander Bishop to emerge and inform them about the current assessment of the situation. While some of the men engaged in friendly conversation, FOX remained quiet. The base always made him feel uncomfortably and being trapped inside this small room didn't put him in much of a talking mood. All the rooms inside the base looked almost entirely mechanical. With their steel walls and floors, it was an impenetrable fortress. Simply furbished with only the basic and rather uncomfortable pieces of furniture, there was ample evidence that this organization lived a strict military lifestyle. It felt cold and damp constantly, and the place reeked of motor oil and metal. Plastered on every wall was the emblem of the organization. FOX hated that more than anything. He always joked that the higher ups put them there because they were scared the members might forget where they were.<p>

However, even now, he wasn't in the mood to crack jokes, even in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. He knew the situation had now drastically changed, and that worried him. A door on the opposite side of the room from entrance opened and Commander James Bishop walked through with the presence of a seasoned veteran of war. Bishop was a very powerful looking man, even at his age of 63. His platinum gray hair was cut in the usual buzz cut format that was so predictable for soldiers. He was very broad shouldered, which along with his height and muscle mass, only added to his commanding presence. Instantly, the conversations stopped and everyone followed FOX's example, sitting upright in their chairs. Walking to a podium in front of a giant dry erase board, Bishop dropped a stack of folders he'd been carrying under his arm. He took a moment to clear his throat and straighten himself up before he finally spoke. His voice was deep and booming, very appropriate for a man of the military.

"Listen up, men," he began. "As you all may know, our current mission has been to observe the target known as ANGEL and gather as much information about her developing powers as we can before advancing. However, with the recent number of diclonius disappearances all over the country, and the mysterious attack on the target, we are now forced to reconsider." The lights went dim and a screen slowly lowered itself behind Bishop. After it lowered completely, a video projection of Kamakura and several of the surrounding prefectures appeared on screen. "Here are some of the areas that have had recent reports of missing diclonius." Several red dots appeared over the map, along with a black dot labeled Kamakura. "And these are their projected routes that our sensors have indicated." A red dotted line from each of the first dots began slowly advancing toward the black dot. The screen began playing on a loop, the red lines re-starting every few seconds and heading again toward Kamakura. "Based on the recent attack on the target, we have reason to belief all of these missing diclonius are heading to Kamakura with hostile intentions. Due to this turn of events, we're forced to change the mission statement." A hushed murmur rumbled through the group as everyone wondered what that could mean. One soldier, a human, raised his hand, waiting for Bishop to point at him before standing to asked his question.

"Sir, what exactly do you mean by revise the mission statement?"

"We are aborting the original mission to observe the target…and moving into secondary protocol." The murmur quickly transformed into a wave of gasps.

"Secondary protocol?" the first soldier blurted.

"But sir…"

"You can't!"

"It's too dangerous!" The room erupted in several protesting voices, all shouting at once. Only FOX remained sitting, too stunned to move. If Bishop and the other officers were desperate enough to use secondary protocol, then the situation must be even graver than he was telling them.

"SILENCE!" Bishop shouted. The room instantly went at attention and sat back down in their seats in unison. Bishop waited a moment to see if the room's attention was his once again. After he was satisfied, he signaled to the man in the back to turn off the projector and turn the lights back up. Stepping in front of the podium, he addressed the assembly, trying hard to be collected and keep his own grave feelings about the situation at bay. "We're left with no other option. These diclonius will reach Kamakura within the week…possibly sooner. What's worse is we have no idea what their motives are. Moreover, rounding up and detaining them up would take too many resources. Not to mention there's the possibility we might accidentally reveal ourselves to the public. Unfortunately, time is a luxury we can't afford. We don't have time to come up with a different plan. For the time being, we shall simply move into secondary protocol until we have a better knowledge of these diclonius and what they are truly after."

"But sir," said another soldier, standing up and not waiting to be called on like the first, "Who's going to carry out secondary protocol?"

"That would be Agent FOX." Every head in the room turned to face FOX. Looking in all directions through the sea of faces, FOX felt cornered. Immediately, he stood up to address his superior officer. It was the only way he could avoid everyone's stares.

"Sir," he said politely, "May I ask why I am being selected for the mission?"

"You're the one who was most recently keeping surveillance on ANGEL. As such, you currently have the best knowledge on the layout of Kamakura and on the target herself. Sorry soldier, but this mission is mandatory. You don't get a choice."

"And what about her family?" Bishop just gave him a quick nod, which was all he needed to have his answer.

"Everyone else here should remain on standby just in case of an emergency. I want you all ready to move out on a moment's notice. Dismissed!" With that, all faces faced forward, stood up at once, and saluted the Commander before everyone began filing out.

"FOX, I'll need to see you in private to go over the details of your assignment." Bishop packed up the files he had carried with him into the room and exited out the door in the back that lead into the officers' private meeting chamber. FOX waited until the room was entirely empty before following closely behind Bishop into the chamber. Once inside, all the officers sat at a circular table, their hands folded on the table, each with a stack files in front of them. FOX closed the door behind him, the clang of the metal door closing echoing ominously throughout the room.

"So," said Bishop, who was sitting at the head of the table, "Shall we get started?"


	7. Chapter 6: Dream

Sleep continued to elude Lucy into the wee hours of the morning as she lay comfortably next to Kohta. With his arm draped over her, she laid on her back staring up at the dark ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night. She glanced at the clock beside their bed for the tenth time, tilting her head slightly in the process. 4:45 AM lit the display. Heaving a gentle, depressed sigh, she resumed her detailed examination of the ceiling. For three days in a row, sleep refused to come to her. By this time, she had given up trying to fall asleep. The first two nights she closed her eyes, regulated her breathing, positioned her body in a relaxing position, and anything else she could think of to help her fall asleep. However, too many things weighed on her mind, preventing her from concentrating on anything else. Finally, Lucy decided it was better this way because if another diclonius should attack the house, she would at least be able to sense them and be awake to stop whoever it may be. Yet that prospect didn't set very well with her at all. Since the recent attack by the mysterious girl three nights ago, she grew increasingly paranoid. Even the faintest of sounds caused her to either jump, or go into a defensive stance. Thankfully, nobody was ever around to see her when it happened. At other times, she found herself hopelessly depressed. It felt as if her happy family life was crumbling behind the scenes. What made the feeling even worse was not knowing what to do. With the weakening of her powers, she wasn't even sure she could protect the others if they were attack. She'd barely survived the first attack.

Lucy leaned to her right, looking at Kohta's sleeping form as he snored peacefully, most likely in the middle of a whimsical dream. She considered telling Kohta everything at one point, but thought better of it. Telling him might only make it worse. Lucy remembered the lengths he'd gone to protecting his family in the past. Besides, she was worried enough for the both of them. She didn't want him to feel the way she did. As long as Nana knew, she felt free of carrying the burden alone. Lucy reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from Kohta's face as he stirred. While he slept, she thought of what she might do if she lost him. She imagined herself back where she was before…lost and alone in the darkness of the world; a feeling she never wanted to feel again. Then she imagined if she lost Mayu, Nana, or even Yuka and Nyu. Everyone was so precious to her. A small tear made its way down her cheek. Unable to hold back, she sobbed silently, lost as to why this was happening.

Nothing felt real anymore. It was as if reality was creeping into her own whimsical dream, slowing invading and destroying it bit by bit. Everything was quickly reverting to the way it was before. _What was going to happen next_, Lucy wondered. After hours of simply gazing into Kohta's face with tear-blurred vision, her sleep deprived body and mind refused to stay awake any longer. The three nights without sleep finally caught up with her all at once. Lucy yawned as her eyelids felt like weights, slowly falling over her eyes. She desperately fought the feeling, afraid to fall asleep in fear of an impending attack. Slapping her cheeks, pinching herself, Lucy did everything and more to remain awake. However, it was in vain. Within minutes, Lucy lay sound asleep next to Kohta as she entered into her own dream.

Lucy stood alone in the middle of the dinning room, the door to the outside garden flung wide open. A short, chilling breeze wafted into the room, causing her to shiver. Lucy looked around, examining her surroundings. She quickly realized it was unusually quiet. She stepped over to shut the door to the garden, taking a quick look at the dull gray sky and clouds that hung over Kaede House. However, this sky and these clouds looked different somehow. Lucy couldn't really describe it, but something about the way they looked felt unnatural. Looking up at them, Lucy felt certain something dark and evil was reaching out to touch them, tainting them with malice. Quickly locking the door, Lucy walked into the hall and called out.

"Hello," she yelled, cupping her palms around her mouth to augment the sound. No one answered. Only the echoing sound of the grandfather clock by the front door as it counted the seconds with a loud, foreboding tick answered her. Taking brisk strides, Lucy marched down the hall to the kitchen. Opening the door, she took a quick look inside and called out again. Again, no answer. The room was completely empty…a tomb. Chills began racing down her spine as an unspeakable fear started clawing at her mind. Suddenly, all the lights inside the house flickered on and off then died. Now, only the dim gray light shining in through the windows from the outside lit the house, creating ominous shadows and pits of darkness. Lucy's eyes widened as an eerie coldness spread throughout her chest. Her palms became clammy and perspiration beaded on her forehead while she quickly checked all the rooms on the ground floor of the house, finding them all empty. Feeling increasingly nervous, Lucy walked with caution in every step; the clock's ticking seeming to match her pounding heartbeat, growing louder with every passing minute. At the bottom step of the staircase leading to the next floor, Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat, seeing nothing but a long, dark passageway. Lifting her foot onto the first step, she heard the clock behind her bong...its deep reverberating sound shaking the house, her ears, head, and chest. She turned with fright, heaving a huge sigh of relief and clutching her chest afterwards upon recognizing the clock. With every step on the staircase, the clock chimed to signal another hour…its tone deeply ominous. The sound penetrated Lucy's core, causing a sinking feeling in her heart. As Lucy reached the top of the staircase, the ringing of the clock ceased, as well as its ticking. It now sat eerily silently at the bottom of the stairs, causing the sinking feeling she felt to become a freefall.

Looking down the corridor, Lucy noticed something very odd. The whole hall seem wrapped and out of focus. The doors, roof, and even the floor looked twisted into odd shapes and contorted in different angles. It reminded her of looking through a kaleidoscope. The hall stretched out for what appeared to be miles, going far beyond the length of the house. Several other wrapped doors had also been added, going on as far as the hall did. Sweat dripped from Lucy as she turned to the first door on her right, which normally would've led into Mayu's room. However, when she opened the door, she found herself suddenly transported to an alley of some random city. Looking around the assorted piles of trash and littered the ground, Lucy heard a grunt up in front of her along with shouts and curses. She looked ahead, seeing a circle of boys crowded around something on the ground, stomping it with their feet. Their shouts and curses echoed off the alley walls, enhancing their frenzy. Lucy couldn't get a good look at who or what they were attacking because of how tightly packed they were around whatever it was. The boys stomped wildly, their attacks not the least bit coordinated with each other. Several times, they seemed to stomp on the feet of their own friend next to them while they attacked together. A few of them had been knocked backwards out of the circle by another because of their viciousness. Wicked and cruel smiles painted their features as they laughed maniacally. Lucy's first instinct was to stop the boys, but some unknown force within her prevented from taking action.

Soon, the boys grew bored, and left the alley, passing by Lucy as if she weren't even there. Lying in a lump on the ground was a girl, who Lucy guessed was somewhere near the same age as her. As the girl slowly crawled to one knee and into the light, Lucy noticed some of her features with shock. The girl had short, shoulder length pink hair, as well as the matching horns…the trademark features of a diclonius. The girl hung her head low, keeping her face focused on the ground. Lucy took a small step toward her when the girl didn't move, reaching out her hand to tap her on the shoulder. Just as her hand came within two meters, a vector shot out from the girls back and held Lucy's hand in a tight death grip.

"It's coming, Lucy," the girl said cryptically. The girl raised her head to look Lucy dead in the eye. Lucy gasped, seeing empty eye sockets on the girl's mangled face. Blood spilled out of the sockets and down her cheeks…tears of red. "You can't stop it!" Lucy fought to free herself from the grip of the vector, but the hold was too strong. The girl laughed insanely, revealing rows of jagged, broken teeth with maggots crawling all over her gums. Lucy finally freed herself and ran for the door. The cackling of the girl followed her down the alley and back into the hall of Kaede House as she slammed the door. Afraid the girl might follow her, Lucy sprinted down the hall, passing several identical doors. Making a random choice, Lucy fled into a door to the left, slamming it behind her. She pushed her body hard against the door so it could not be forced open. Lucy's heart pounded so hard against her chest she could feel her whole body throb with every beat. After several minutes of intense panting and fear, Lucy slowly relaxed, certain she was not being followed.

**Hello,** said a haunting voice that echoed from behind her. In all her excitement, Lucy had forgotten to make sure she was alone in the room. All sense and reason told her not to turn around, but her body acted on impulse. Slowly, she turned around. Stretched out before her was a desolate canyon of gray. The dark sky above blotted out all color. Dead trees lined the tip of the canyon, devoid of any leaves…their branches twisted until they looked like arms, reaching out like claws to drag you into the depths of hell. From the bottom of the valley, stacked to its brim, were the bodies of diclonius and human alike. Their skin was burnt like black ash, and their eyes were hollow and empty. Standing amidst this horrible place as if he were its king, was Tomo.

Lucy and Tomo stared at each other. Neither one of them spoke. Shock and horror racked Lucy's mind as Tomo simply smiled at her. Suddenly, his smile became wider and demonic. Then, he started to laugh…louder and louder. Soon, his laughter filled the canyon as it echoed from all sides. A fiery blaze abruptly engulfed the whole valley, eating away at the trees and bodies.

**The end is coming Lucy**, Tomo said to her before resuming his laughter. Finally, her body began to move. Lucy turned, ripping the door off its hinges in a panic. Instantly, Lucy shielded her face from the fire that now seemed to have moved into the hallway in front of her, trapping her. The scene started to shrink, drawing everything closer to her. **I'm coming to see you. **Lucy didn't know what to do. As everything soon came so close they all merged into one, horrific image, Lucy did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.

"LUCY! Please, you have to wake up!"

When Lucy opened her eyes, she saw the faces of Kohta, Mayu, and Nana looked down at her with worried and frightened looks. Her eyes darted around the room to get her bearings. The room appeared to be in the right place. There also weren't any corpses, or fire, or anything else from her dream. Her breathing calmed slightly and she sat up in bed, noticing that she and the covers were drenched in sweat.

"What the hell was that?" Kohta asked her. Lucy looked and everyone and thought about her answer before replying.

"It was nothing," she finally whispered. Unfortunately, Kohta wasn't going to give up that easily.

"It was a nightmare wasn't it?" he probed her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Call me crazy, but when someone wakes up screaming, I doubt they were dreaming about ponies and fluffy pink bunnies," he countered. Lucy hung her head and didn't say anything.

"Are the girls still asleep?" Lucy asked, eager to change the subject.

"They're fine. They could sleep through a train wreck," Mayu answered. Lucy almost hoped her screaming had woke them up. At least then she'd have an excuse to leave the room and go somewhere else. There was a moment of silence when everyone stared at Lucy, silently waiting for her to explain.

"What was it?" Kohta asked again. He sounded so gentle and caring that Lucy, for a moment, considered telling them. However, something inside her told her not to. Something inside her knew that if she said anything, she'd regret.

"Nothing," she finally said, "Just a nightmare is all. I don't even remember really what it was." The look Kohta gave her clearly said he didn't believe her, but he didn't push the issue any further.

"Alright, as long as you're fine. It's late, let's all get back to bed." They all said their goodnights to each other again, and both Mayu and Nana left the room. However, before Nana closed the door behind her, she gave Lucy a grave look and a small, barely noticeable nod of the head. And Lucy knew she understood.

_I guess I'll have to talk to her about it tomorrow_, Lucy thought to herself. Giving Kohta a final word of assurance she was fine and a kiss on the lips goodnight, she and Kohta laid their heads back down. Lucy knew sleep would not return to her this night. Little did she know that this dream was the signaling of a long, dark series of events that was about to finally unfold.

* * *

><p>Sakuroka looked down with a sigh of relief. It had been a long road, both mentally and physically. She had endured many things ranging from hunger, to sleepless nights, and even abuse. Sometimes she wondered if she'd even make it. But now, it would all soon come to an end. Sakuroka had finally arrived in Kamakura. Standing atop a small hill outside the city limits, she admired the simplicity of the town. It was oddly modest, even for a Japanese town. However, this was no time for sightseeing. There were more important matters at hand. With conviction in every step, Sakuroka walked toward the city. The time to get some answers had finally come.<p>

* * *

><p>The last helicopter had just dropped the rest of them off and was beginning to make its ascent back toward base, kicking up a strong gust of wind. FOX looked behind him as the small, elite team of soldiers selected for this mission prepared themselves. Getting one last head count to see how many men he had to work with, he saw he had a total of twenty men. Half were human, and the rest were diclonius, who had direct orders not to use their vectors, or reveal their identities unless it was absolutely necessary. Checking his watch to see how many minutes they had until the operation began, he had a bad feeling it wouldn't be long before they would have to resort to that final measure of desperation.<p>

"Ok boys," he shouted to his men, "We have five minutes. Remember, we want to try to keep our presence unknown to the locals. Also, keep the collateral damage down as much as possible. Kill only if necessary. We want to try to make it look like as if we were never here. But personally, I doubt it will happen that smoothly. The completion of our objective is our top priority. Everything else is secondary." FOX looked out at his men. All of them looked back at him with their complete attention and concentration for every syllable.

"And diclonius, do not remove your helmets unless you have to. This is a measure of last resort. Any questions?" Everyone remained silent.

"Then move out!"

* * *

><p>The queen was somewhere down there, they just knew. They could sense her as easily as they could see the diclonius standing next to them. Yet somehow, they knew she could not sense them. This fact brought a smile to their face as they arrogantly imagined how easy this was about to be. Even the extra signatures they were picking up did not faze them. In all honesty, it only made them more excited as they growled. Their bloodlust had completely overtaken them now. There was nothing left in them anymore except a desire to kill. This one common interest alone was what brought this small group of diclonius girls together. And that was the only thing that brought them here to this city…the urge to kill.<p>

"Kill…kill…kill." One began it as a whisper, but then a second joined in. When the third started chanting, it was at normal speaking volume. Then a fourth and a fifth joined. Soon, the whole pack was speaking what sounded like a war chant.

"KILL…KILL…KILL!"

Then they all pounced on the city.

"KILL LUCY!


	8. Chapter 7: Invasion

**Chapter 7: Invasion**

Lucy shivered slightly as she sat under the cherry tree in the garden…the cold, damp night air causing goose bumps to break out on her body. An hour had passed since she'd forgone pretending to sleep and instead, favored a spot under the diamond sky beneath the cherry tree in the garden. Whenever she needed to decompress, she always came here. Most of the time, with a single smell of the blossom's fragrance, her troubles vaporized with the breeze. But now, Lucy's mind was twisted in too many knots. If anything, sitting here made it worse. After her dream earlier that night, Lucy's memory had been thrown into sharp remembrance of Tomo. Now, his ghost haunted the place where he spent the most time while living in the house. Every rock, plant, and weed only provided Lucy a grim reminder of him and her dream. She could see his transparent outline kneeling next to one of the flowerbeds as he looked back…that equally transparent smile he wore plastered across his face.

Lucy ran through the aspects of her dream. She thought to call it such would be a stretch. She'd had enough dreams, or rather nightmares, to be considered a master on the subject. This was different. It didn't have the vagueness most dreams and nightmares had after waking up. Even after she woke up, the images remained crisp and clear, seemingly burned into her mind. It felt more like the dream and wishes of someone else…as if her dream served as a sort of conduit between her head and another's heart; a heart that was blacker then the deepest depths of space. It sounded ridiculous every time she thought about it. None of it made sense. Then again, nothing made much sense these days.

Lucy looked up at the constellations and noticed a slight fading of the night. She guessed the sun would be rising in a few hours. Lucy thought about how she was going to have a lot on her plate in the morning. She knew she'd have to face the others and their endless questions about her dream. She imagined what Kohta's reaction would be when he soon woke to find her missing and the other side of the bed empty. As the moment played out inside her consciousness, she considered just telling them the truth…if only to relieve some of her burden.

Lucy remained so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Nana standing in the doorframe leading to the dining room. With her powers still fluctuating, she had to look up to see Nana standing in her pajamas with the most worried look Lucy had ever seen. Without a sound, Nana sat beside Lucy, mirroring her as they sat together. The two didn't say anything for a moment. Neither of them knew what to say. So they briefly decided on silence, enjoying the relaxing presence of each other's company. Sitting there with Nana, Lucy found it as comforting and consoling as if they were speaking and maybe even more. It was in moments such as these that Lucy truly understood and appreciated the relationships she'd formed.

"What was it?" Nana asked, finally breaking the silence, getting straight to the point. Lucy followed her example and shifted herself in the grass as she began to retell Nana everything she'd seen inside her dream. The words poured out of Lucy like water bursting from a ruptured damn…flowing too fast for her brain to keep up. As Lucy told her story, Nana began to look just as troubled as she felt, shuddering at all the appropriate details. When Lucy finished, Nana half-smiled at her, which looked almost reassuring. Lucy hung her head low on her knees. For some unknown reason, Lucy discovered she was unable to face Nana.

"Sounds like it was a pretty bad dream," Nana consoled her with a small half-hearted chuckle that reflected her own anxiety.

"Yeah," Lucy whispered.

Nana frowned. It appeared cheering up Lucy this time wasn't going to be so easy. Again, the two fell into silence again, and Nana took the time to gather her thoughts for a better reply.

"Maybe…it was just a bad dream. It doesn't necessarily mean anything," she stammered, not knowing if her words would help at all.

Lucy appreciated Nana's attempts, but she wasn't sure if even Kohta could help anymore. Everything was just coming in too fast now. The walls around Lucy were now so close she could hardly move or breathe. All she could do was sulk under a tree. "No…It was more than that," Lucy countered adamantly. Nana looked at her with a confused expression. "I don't know what I mean either," Lucy continued, "but I know it means something. I just don't know what yet." The words of the phantom diclonius from her dream, repeating 'the end' played back on an endless loop inside her mind. If her dream truly meant something deeper as she feared, then that couldn't be a good sign. Nana tried to think of some comforting words, but her mind remained blank.

"Let's go back inside," Nana suggested instead. Unsure what that would accomplish, Lucy agreed. Mournfully, the two rose to their feet and made their way towards the dining room. Nana walked slowly so she and Lucy could be side by side. Only slightly ahead, Lucy was mid-step into the dining room when she abruptly stopped. A massive presence forced its weight upon her consciousness as sudden as a lightening bolt. The feeling was so intense her legs nearly buckled under her. Lucy turned to face Nana, and knew from the look on her face that she didn't need to ask if Nana felt that. Nana had fallen to one knee, clutching her shoulders and shivering. Her eyes went wide, and her skin pale. If it weren't for the huge beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks, you might think her blood had frozen inside her.

"What was that?" Nana asked. Lucy didn't answer. She didn't need to. It was obvious to both of them what it was.

_Diclonius._

* * *

><p>With the sleek grace of a dance troop, the group of diclonius flew through the air, using their vectors to propel themselves forward. From rooftop to rooftop, they leapt in perfect unison…their movements so timely it almost seemed rehearsed. When one would jump from its spot, another would land in the exact same position with such precision that their indentions in the buildings matched. The one in front, and the apparent leader, came to a halt on top of an old abandoned warehouse. As the others in her party came to a stop next to her, she reached out with her mind to get a finer grasp on the Queen. The air was silent with anticipation, and the streets deserted. As she closed her eyes, images of death blinded her vision. She continued to search until the Queen's signature was no longer an obscure haze, but clear and defined. She searched until her mind's eye pointed in a direction that was straight as an arrow.<p>

She opened her eyes and saw the invisible path through the maze of buildings. Off in the distance, even in the dark, she could almost make out what appeared to be stone steps leading upward. Something about those steps felt meaningful…as if much history were carved into the stone, a personal history. The history of the diclonius was linked to those steps somehow, and it seemed appropriate that be their chosen path to their destination.

Without a word or so much as a back glance to the others, she flew through the air with her vectors as her wings, following the scent inside her mind. The others followed her almost instantaneously. By now, the Queen would most certainly know they were coming. Each of them could feel it. The Queen knew they were on their way. However, none of them cared. Their minds were too consumed with malicious bloodlust to function on anything higher than their diclonius instincts. They no longer worried about sleeping, eating, or even their own safety. There was only one thing that mattered now…killing, killing without rhyme or reason, killing for the pleasure of it, killing…because it was instinct.

With purpose behind every leap, the group came closer and closer with every building. Finally arriving at the stone steps, the leader paused there one final moment, breathing in the history of this place that infected the very air. Then, going one step at a time, they began to traverse the steps slowly…and hunt was officially on.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do?" Nana cried in a state of near panic. Her body convulsed madly while her legs remained rooted. She spoke so quickly her sentences merged into one giant, incomprehensible mess. A hard slap to the cheek from Lucy to pulled Nana out of her panic attack. Lucy took a firm grip on Nana's shoulders and forced her to look her straight in the eye. As Nana looked up at Lucy, she saw a look she'd not seen in Lucy in a long time. Her lips were tight and curved into a half frown. Her eyes were narrow, and a fiery calm burned within them. It resembled that grim determination Lucy used to wear back in her more violent days.<p>

"Calm down," she spoke, her voice equally as strong as her hold on Nana's shoulders. "Go wake up Kohta and the others! Don't stop until they're fully awake. Bring everyone downstairs. Have Mayu help you with Yuka and Nyu." Lucy gave the orders with a quick-thinking calm that surprised even her. However, she didn't have time to contemplate this, or why she'd again suddenly gotten her powers back. Right now, they all had to get out of Kaede House…and the sooner they did that, the better they'd be. Nana just nodded and bolted for the stairs. Lucy could hear her feet pounding on the floor as she ran the stairs two at a time, heading for the rooms. Lucy simply waited at the foot of the stairs, keeping her mind alert. A few minutes later, Nana, Kohta, and Mayu came down the stairs, with Nyu and Yuka sleeping in Nana's and Mayu's arms.

"Lucy, what the hell is going on?" asked Kohta with a hint or irritation and worry. While he spoke as if he'd been awake for hours, his eyes were still droopy and red.

"No time to explain…We have to get out of here now!" Lucy barked.

"But why?" Mayu asked, "Is there-"

Mayu tried to finish her sentence, but as she did, the front gate exploded in wave of wooden debris. Wanta began barking outside at the intruders, and Mayu's face went ashen.

"WANTA!" She tried to run back for Wanta, but Lucy grabbed her by the shoulders, preventing her from going to the dog's rescue. "Let me go!"

"You can't! It's too dangerous," Lucy warned her. Wanta continued to bark madly until suddenly, his barks turned into wails. Then, after the distinct sound of a body being torn to pieces, the dog was silent.

"No!" Mayu cried. They didn't have time to mourn. Immediately the front door blasted of its hinges and collided with the steps leading upstairs. Lucy and the others turned and ran for the back of the house as a group of diclonius girls prowled in through the front door. Turning to the old clock, one of the girls lifted the heavy clock with her vectors, hurling it down the hall. It barely missed Mayu's feet as they rounded the corner…the clock bursting into pieces with a loud clang of its gears. The loud noises caused Nyu and Yuka to wake up and cry loudly. With Lucy leading the way, they made their way for the back door that lead out into the garden. Not daring to look back, Lucy could hear stomping footsteps as their attackers gave chase.

Just as the back door came into view, Lucy shot out her vectors to break the door down. As they ran out into the clearing, Lucy chanced a look back into the house. Thankfully, the hallway was tight, slowing their pursuers because of their large numbers. However, she didn't count on there being more. She felt them just as the pair of diclonius girls jumped down from the roof, their vectors positioned to attack and bloodlust in their eyes. With great care, Lucy pushed Kohta and the others out of the way with her vectors just the ground where they stood burst in a cloud of dirt. One of the attacking diclonius regained her composure quickly from the near miss and attacked again. But Lucy was quicker; her vectors slammed the girl through the adjacent window, the glass shattering and cutting her body. Lucy turned to deal with the other one only to find her and Nana locked in combat. The attacker swung its vectors while Nana clumsily dodged them, falling to the ground. Before the girl could attack again, Lucy removed her head from its body. A fountain of blood bathed them all in a sea of red.

"RUN," Lucy shouted. None of them needed telling twice and instantly darted for the front gate. Behind them, they heard the sounds of the walls being forced apart as the diclonius created a wider path for themselves.

The front gate was now in sight, and a small puddle of blood where Wanta's body lay torn in two halves. Apparently, one of the other diclonius had doubled back around through the house and was already there to greet them. Jumping into the lead, Lucy easily brushed one of the vectors away and countered with a stiff punch with her own vectors into the gut. The cannonball hit sent the girl flying through the air, her spine shattering as her back connected with a tree. Without a word, they started to run again, both Nyu and Yuka crying into the night. The walls behind them burst as two more diclonius came back around, jumping through the walls. Another pair leapt from the top floor windows, glass raining down upon them. As Lucy and the others passed the front gate, they instinctively turned right. The diclonius followed them, jumping over the walls as Nana and Lucy swatted them away with their vectors. Lucy saw a small fork in the road just ahead.

"Split up," she barked. Even as the words escaped her lips, she knew it was a bad idea, and doubted anyone else would think any different. But this wasn't the time to argue. While Mayu and Nana went off to the right, Kohta and Lucy sped off to the left. Lucy shot a quick glance over her shoulder just in time to see half the diclonius chasing them take the right fork, while the rest continued to chase her and Kohta. At the very least, they'd been able to split them up as well, which should make defending themselves easier. However, she worried about her plan. Mayu and Nana had the girls, and Nana was nowhere near as powerful nor as battle experienced as Lucy was. As her beating heart fueled her legs, she could only pray to a God she didn't even think existed that they'd be saved.

* * *

><p>Looking through his night vision binoculars, FOX could see the green images of the target's home being destroyed. Moreover, with the slight modifications, he could even see the signatures of several vectors. He let slip an irritated sigh. "Damned…they got there first!" FOX hissed as he and his team stayed perched a good distance away, observing the unfolding chaos. This would certainly make things more difficult. The operation had been to get in and out of there without anyone's knowledge. Ideally, this would have meant them getting to the target first without any confrontation. But now, a fight looked unavoidable. With how much noise the others were making, it'd be a miracle if half of Japan hadn't heard about this by morning.<p>

"Sir," one of the soldiers behind him said at attention, "What are your orders?" FOX looked back to see a collection of eager faces, all awaiting his command. FOX looked through the binoculars again in time to see ANGEL and the others escape through the gate and run down the walkway; their pursuers hot on their heels. FOX wasn't sure what he should do. Not only had his field experience been minimal, but he also wasn't used to being in a position of authority. With a single word, these men would do whatever he said. Moreover, if this mission failed, if any of them or the civilians died, the weight of it would fall on his shoulders. However, FOX quickly buried such thoughts. He couldn't afford to be doubtful at a moment like this. If his training had taught him anything, it was that in the time it takes for a soldier to doubt himself, that was all the time it took for you to end up dead. With new conviction, FOX straightened up and faced his men.

"I want you to divide into two separate teams. Half the diclonius will go on one team, the second half in the other. The one team will be lead by me. We will secure the Queen. The rest of you, your job will be to take care of the others. Communicate any changes via radio. Use the scrambled channel 31.786." They quickly divide themselves into two teams, and soon they were all ready to move out. "Remember, try to keep the damage down to a minimal. However, our highest priority is securing the Queen and the others. Under my authority, you have permission to use whatever means necessary to accomplish your mission. Is that understood?"

"Sir," they answered together, saluting him as they did. Then with a brief wave of his hand, the two bands of soldiers parted, one heading toward the right, the other toward the left.

* * *

><p>Lucy pushed herself through the cramping pain in her legs and stomach, forcing her body forward. Turning to Kohta, she'd been forced to take him by the arm and pull him to help him keep up. "Come on, Kohta!" she begged, nearly dragging him, as she ran as fast as she could. Briefly, Lucy turned back around, heaving a sigh of relief that they'd finally managed some distance between themselves and the diclonius chasing them. With her pursuers quickly turning into a bunch of tiny, jumping dots, Lucy started taking random turns in hopes of throwing them off: a left here, a right there, another right after passing two more roads. After countless turns, both Kohta and Lucy stopped and hunched over, gasping for air.<p>

"What's…going…on?" Kohta asked between huffs. Lucy looked over her shoulder to see if she had time for an explanation. She tried to hide her presence, but could only mask it due to her continually fluctuating powers, and it wouldn't be long before they found them. She would have to make this quick.

"I'm not really sure about this myself, but I've had this strange feeling lately that something bad was going to happen. And I think this is it." Kohta looked at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"My powers have been really iffy for a few weeks now. Sometimes they're working, sometimes they're not. Then there was that really strange dream I had…and the fact that I was attacked before. And –"

"Attacked…You were attacked?" Kohta's outburst made Lucy jump for a moment. She'd forgotten that she still hadn't told Kohta about that night. Lucy's heart began to break as she saw the look on Kohta's face, a hybrid of both anger and hurt. "Why wouldn't you tell me stuff like that? Don't you think it's important?"

"I just didn't want to worry you," Lucy told him, defending herself.

"Lucy, we're a family now. That's what families do. They worry about each other. They tell each other when something is upsetting them. Don't you trust us?" Kohta asked her, his voice reaching out to her.

"That's not the point right now," Lucy scolded, trying to avoid the subject. Something about that question stung at her heart. "The point is that something bad is going on right now, and somehow I'm involved."

"Are you sure you're not hiding that from me too?" Kohta pouted, crossing his arms.

"Not now Kohta," Lucy snapped. This wasn't the time for them to be arguing. They had bigger things to concern themselves with, such as survival. "We need to find Nana and Mayu. The girls are still with them."

"You're right," Kohta said simply, "Let's go." The two of them took off at a light jog, taking another back road that lead to Kaede House, or what was left of it anyway. If they were going to find the others, then they needed to head down the opposite fork that had divided them. In order to avoid the diclonius on their heels, they'd have to circle back around. Lucy hoped her ability to mask herself would hold out until they found them.

Lucy and Kohta came upon a side road littered with trees. Side by side, they arched over the road, blocking out any possible light from the stars or moon, submerging it in a heavy darkness. Gazing down the tunnel-like path, Lucy was strongly reminded of an old ghost story Kohta had told her about once.

"Hey Kohta," Lucy called to him in a whisper.

"What is it?" he replied, also whispering.

"What was that one ghost story you told me about? You know...the one with the headless guy and everything."

"Oh, you mean the Legend of Sleep Hollow right? It's an American story I heard about once. Why?"

"This place reminds me of that one bridge scene." Lucy and Kohta slowed their jogging into a slow walk. Shoulder to shoulder, Lucy clung to Kohta's arm as the bugs chirped from the branches.

"You know, for a girl who used to kill people, you're something of a scaredy cat," Kohta said, chuckling at her.

"Very funny," Lucy said, not at all amused.

"Sorry," Kohta apologized, quickly noticing Lucy's sour tone.

"But still, this place is creepy. I'll feel much better once we get to the other side," Lucy said, pulling herself closer to Kohta. She was so close to him now it was difficult for him to walk.

"Not so close! It's getting hard to walk," he scolded. Lucy tried to respond, but her words were lost in the yells that came from the shrieking diclonius that jumped from all sides. Lucy pushed Kohta aside and tried to extend her own vectors, but nothing came. She was only able to narrowly escape as the vectors from the others came crashing down on her, creating a huge crater where she and Kohta had been standing. Lucy picked Kohta up off the cold ground and tried to run back down the path, but a diclonius jumped in front of them to block their path. They quickly turned around to go the other way, but they were blocked still by more diclonius. All around them, the pack of wild-eyed diclonius closed in on them in a giant semi-circle. With nothing but dense trees and bushes behind them, they were boxed in. Inch by inch, the diclonius crept closer and closer. Their red eyes burned through the night like flaming blood. Lucy tried once more in vain to summon her vectors, but again nothing happened.

_Perfect,_ she thought dryly, _…of all the times, it just had to be now._

Kohta and Lucy moved tightly together, their hands mingling, silently communicating their final love with a single grasp. Together they stared into each other's eyes for a minute. In that single minute, an eternity passed. The diclonius pounced on Lucy and Kohta, and the two of them fell to the ground, bringing themselves into an unbreakable embrace as they prepared themselves for the inevitable. Death's silence fell over them, and Lucy waited as a lifetime of pain passed before her eyes, all eclipsed by a single image; an image of a small boy and girl on top of a stone stairway, humming a melancholic tune. And with her happiest memory burning brightly in her mind, she waited for death's icy touch.

A loud bang reverberated through the air, and one diclonius fell to the ground lifeless. The others stopped their attack in stunned awe, while Lucy and Kohta looked up from their protective embrace in equal shock. Then, another loud bang, and another diclonius lay dead. Soon, soldiers jumped out from the brush, all disguised wearing camouflage, and guns going off like thunder. The diclonius jumped back, trying to swat away the bullets. However, their vectors were too weak, and within a matter of seconds, all of them were bleeding on the ground. Lucy and Kohta watched like dazed outside observers as the soldiers scrambled to collect the bodies, seemingly unaware of their presence.

"Spread out and make sure the area is secure," one of the soldiers shouted at the others above all the commotion, "Take the bodies to the rendezvous point, we'll dispose of them back at the base." A few of the soldiers lifted the dead diclonius over their shoulders and ran off back into the brush as if the bodies were weightless. It was only after this that the one giving the commands seemed to notice them for the first time. He briskly walked forward to Kohta and Lucy still on the ground and kneeled to face them. "Are you all right?"

Lucy didn't know how to answer and neither did Kohta. They were both too astonished and perplexed at what had happened to allow their thoughts to form into questions. The soldier seemed to take their silence as to mean they were fine. With a relieved look, he stood up and spoke into a hand held radio.

"This is FOX. We've located and secured the Queen. Both the Queen and the civilian are unharmed. Have you found the others?" The radio crackled to life as a voice on the other end chimed in response through static.

"Negative…We have yet to find the others. Repeat…We have yet to find the others."

"Have you encountered any resistance?"

"That's another negative."

"Ok…Continue with your mission. We'll take the Queen and the civilian to the rendezvous point and await you there. Use extreme caution," the leader spoke with urgency, giving just an added amount of emphasis on the word "extreme."

"Roger that. Out." With that, the radio crackled off, and the soldier pocketed it inside his belt. As the soldiers around him made final sweep checks, the leader put out a hand to help Lucy and Kohta to their feet. "Come on…we need to go." Reluctantly, they each in turn took the man's hand and let him pull them with considerable strength back to a vertical base.

"Who…are you people?" Lucy finally asked while she and Kohta brushed off the gravel on their clothes. With one swift motion, the man removed the helmet that had been covering his face, revealing a young, handsome face of a man who couldn't be much older then Kohta. A mop of shoulder-length pink hair fell away and two horns sprang magically from his head.

"There's no time to explain everything. Just know that my name is FOX and I'm here to help you. Now let's go!" With that, he took Lucy by the forearm and pulled her into a strong walk. She in turn grabbed Kohta's arm and pulled him along as well as soldiers flanked them on all sides. Lucy's mind was doing so many back flips she felt dizzy. She felt like a small piece of sand being overpowered by the sea. Who were these men? Why did they save them? What did they want? Who was after them? So many questions ran through her awareness so fast they blurred. However, neither one of them had the strength to argue right now. All they could do for now was trust these men, as they were slowly being carried out by the tide.

* * *

><p>Nana pressed herself hard against the ground, forcing herself as low as she could possibly go. Next to her, Mayu did the same. Each held one of the twins in their arms, trying hard to keep them calm and quiet. Underneath the bush, Nana used all the diclonius power she could to mask herself, Yuka, and Nyu. It was an extremely difficult task for her under developed vectors. She rarely ever used them to begin with, not to mention she was nowhere near as strong as Lucy was. Now she was being forced to mask not only herself, but the twins as well. However, Lucy insisted they learn the ability after the Tomo incident, an idea Lucy had gotten from one of the rogue diclonius' abilities. When she asked why, Lucy had simply answered with "just in case." Now, she was praising Lucy's foresight. Looking at the twins, she wasn't even sure they could send out the signature that made diclonius aware of another's presence. However, it wasn't a mystery she was interested in solving this very minute.<p>

The diclonius that had been pursuing them had long since lost their trail. Yet every so often, and pair of naked feet could be seen through the branches as they wildly searched for them. They would search for a few seconds then disappear. With every close call, the silence seemed to grow until Nana could hear Mayu's heart beating against her chest. Mayu gave Nana a small tap on the shoulder, and Nana gently inclined her head so as not to disturb the bushes. Mayu nudged her head toward the street, silently asking if Nana thought it was all right to come out. Nana briefly shook her head, letting Mayu know she wanted to be absolutely sure before they made any rash decisions. A minute went by…then five minutes…then fifteen. At this point, Nana was considering that maybe it was safe to come out. However, that was before she heard the single footsteps.

The pace to which these footsteps were walking was slow and purposeful, with a second's difference between each step. They walked heel to toe, resembling the beating on Nana's own heart. Then exactly two meters from where they were hiding, the footsteps stopped. Nana tilted her head again to get a look at the feet and saw that they were different somehow. The feet were not naked as before, but instead wore a simple pair of sneakers…worn from long periods of being used, but still unmistakable. And from the unmoving, straight position of the feet, Nana knew that the person that they belonged to wasn't looking for something. Rather, it seemed they were looking forward as if they were waiting for something…or someone.

"Mayu," Nana whispered. Mayu turned to her, surprised that she would risk breaking the silence. Nana didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it. No, that wasn't true. She knew exactly why she was doing it. It was to protect her best friend in the world, and to protect the two little girls she loved like sisters. "I'm going to face them. I want you to take the girls and run. Find Lucy and Kohta." Before Mayu's ashen face could voice a protest, Nana jumped from the bushes to face her enemy. Tears rolling down her face, Mayu picked up both twins and ran away, unnoticed by the new foe. Nana observed her and instantly knew she was different from the others. The pink hair and horns was a clear sign that she was diclonius. However, the dirt-stained clothes that were just as worn as her shoes and heavy expression spoke to Nana. They told her that although this girl was not with the others, she was just as, if not, even more dangerous.

"Hello," the girl said calmly, "My name is Sakuroka…and I'm here for Lucy."


	9. Chapter 8: Escape

"Hello. My name is Sakuroka and I'm here for Lucy."

Even through the thick darkness of the night, Nana could see into the face of the girl named Sakuroka. She gazed back at her with an intense calm, standing lazily on her feet. With her hands hanging at her side, her lips were slightly curved in a bored expression. Outwardly, nothing appeared threatening about her. She was like the quiet of a storm…a silence only masking the approaching destruction. A sudden pang of dread surged through Nana like a flow of electricity through her body. Moreover, she felt it had nothing to do with her diclonius powers of perception. Nana was so afraid that her body wasn't even shaking. Her body seemed to have been frightened into a relaxed state. All around the darkness, Nana could sense the emotions of the girl hanging like a foul stench…emotions like hatred, anger, and sadness. There was a long silence between them. Only the cicada's song played as their backdrop. Then she spoke.

"Where is she?" she asked. Nana didn't answer. She couldn't answer. The fear had taken all words from her. A strong glare was the only response she could muster. Shrugging, Sakuroka stepped forward. Within a split second, Sakuroka jumped for Nana with arms and vectors reaching for her. Her mind went blank with fear for a brief moment, so Nana acted merely on instinct. Extending her own vectors, she easily swatted the girl down like a fly. The girl skidded on her side, rolling to a stop next to one of the trees lining the path. There was another few moments of silence as Sakuroka slowly crawled back to her feet. Nana stared down in utter, dumbfounded amazement.

_That was a little too easy_, she thought to herself.

Sakuroka rubbed the newly formed cuts on her arm…a nasty little gift from the sidewalk. Hitting Nana with a smug look, she lunged for her again. She was much quicker this time, forcing Nana to jump out of the way before she easily brushed her to the side with her vectors again. Her body spun through the air, eventually connecting with a wall opposite them so hard Nana could actually hear the wind being forced out of her. As the girl began to cough madly, Nana looked on, unsure as to what was happening.

_Something isn't right. _A new feeling began to crawl its way inside the back of Nana's girl was stronger than this. Nana had felt it. So why was she beating her so easily? A grim anxiousness gripped at her soul with powerful force.

Sakuroka coughed loudly, and a splatter of blood ejected from her mouth, painting the ground red. As she glared at Nana, not bothering to wipe away the blood from her lips, Nana felt an odd, somewhat misplaced feeling of pity toward the girl. Gazing into those hate filled eyes, she looked pathetic there on the ground. Sakuroka looked much the way she'd felt those two years ago. Weak and without any real direction, Nana had thought herself nothing more than a tool. As long as she was useful to her Papa, she was happy. However, she had no self-worth or meaning. The scientist at the Institute had beaten all of that out of her with cruel efficiency. And when she had been deemed worthless by the Institute and abandoned by her Papa, she'd become lost, losing what little support she had. It wasn't until she gained the family she never had that she realized what those words, meaning and self-worth, really meant. Now she was strong, and she had self-respect. And more importantly at the moment, she had something to protect.

Sakuroka stumbled to her feet, swaying from side to side. Nana wondered for a moment whether she had any broken bones. The thoughts quickly exited her mind as Sakuroka lunged for her again and Nana, a little more gently this time, nudged her back. Even with such a tame push, the girl fell back as if she'd been shot by a canon. Nana looked at her with sad pity as she tried to pull herself up, but fell back down to the ground in irritation. The girl reminded her so much of herself. She reminded her of all the diclonius she'd ever come across. She was so sad and lonely, being manipulated by her diclonius powers and her negative emotions. Nana remembered the feeling, as it too had once consumed her, with only a grazing bullet to the head pulling her back to her senses.

Making up her mind, Nana retracted her vectors. Resolve emanating all around her; it empowered her with determination, and she decided to try. She'd try to save this girl.

* * *

><p><em>Something isn't right<em>, Sakuroka thought as she tried to pull herself up after being knocked down for the third time. Frustration and fury had replaced what calm she had had when she first approached the silpelit. The seemingly endless power she had gotten so used to feeling within her was now as dry as desert sand in the sun. Moreover, as Sakuroka reevaluated the situation, she knew something was different. Something was definitely not right. She retreated into the recesses of her mind, knowing Tomo would most assuredly have the answers.

"TOMO," she called out, expecting him to appear instantly. However, nothing happened. She raised an eyebrow, confused as to what may be causing his delay. She called again.

"TOMO!" Again, only silence greeted her. Only after a few more unanswered calls did she realized what was wrong. Within a moment where it felt like a stone dropped in her gut did she understand what she felt wasn't right. She felt nothing. Standing in that gray void of nothing, she felt exactly that…nothing. She was alone. Where's Tomo? Why can't she feel his presence like before? Futilely, she called out his name repeatedly until her throat was raw. The silence made her uncomfortable and fearful now. She suddenly felt cold. She began to run in random directions shouting the name of her salvation.

_Why isn't he answering? What's wrong? _"TOMO! Answer me!" _Have I lost my powers? _"Please help me!" _Why won't he come? _

And then, another stone dropped inside her as more understanding dawned on her. Her pace slowed to a jog, then a brisk walk until she came to a complete halt. The fear began to elapse, but the cold she felt suddenly dropped even further. Soon, a burning hate, stronger then anything she'd ever known to be even possible rose up, mingling with the cold to create a whirlwind of icy fire. It burned and froze her heart at the same time. She hadn't lost her powers. There was nothing wrong with her at all. He was simply gone.

Tomo had forsaken her.

* * *

><p>Nana looked on with a sidelong glance at what she believed to be a dramatic change in her opponent. Silently, Sakuroka stood motionless on her feet, her arms hanging limply at her sides and her head hanging so low Nana could no longer see her expression. Her pink hair drooped in front of her, grimly reminding Nana of Lucy during her more violent years. As Sakuroka stood there, saying and doing nothing, Nana considered whether to dare a step closer. Just as she lifted her foot to take a step, Sakuroka's head snapped back so hard and fast Nana wondered she didn't break her neck. Now glaring at the sky filled with endless little lights, Sakuroka screamed.<p>

"TOMO! YOU BASTARD! WHY?"

The name didn't register immediately with Nana, but rather took a few long seconds before her brain fully grasped it. Nana's mouth hung open as realization hit her like an ice pick in her stomach. Sakuroka seemed to have forgotten Nana was there as she continued cursing the heavens above them.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? ANSWER ME, TOMO!"

Panic overwhelmed Nana. Her gaze darted from side to side, terrified to find herself face to face with a monster she long believed dead. Sweat drenched her body; her body shaking so violently that she couldn't even back away in a straight line. In her mind, a single, sinister face began to flash before her vision as the name repeated on an eternal, hateful loop.

"TOMO!"

All sounds and voices muted out of her senses. Only the intense beating of her heart and her rasping breaths could be heard. Finally, Nana turned on her heels and ran as fast as her legs would permit, leaving Sakuroka alone, who didn't bother to make chase. She ran so frantically that several times she stumbled. However, she quickly righted herself before falling, refusing to relinquish any momentum. She had to get as far away from this place as she could. But more importantly, she had to find Lucy. She had to tell her.

_It's him_, she said to herself as she ran, _It's been him all along._

It was the only explanation for what had been happening over the past several weeks…the attack from before, the invasion happening now, the loss of Lucy's powers, her dream. Everything that seemed so insensible was now clear as crystal. However, one question still bothered her; one lingering doubt still plagued and frightened her.

_But how can he still be alive?_

Just as she reached the stone steps, she felt a sudden pull inside her that forced her to stop. Standing on the top step looking down over a sleeping Kamakura, she felt as if all the force of gravity was pulling from the inside of her gut. A burning pain scorched her brain. She pressed a hand hard against her temple and clenched her eyes. Then, from the silence, a loud ringing noise erupted in her ears, slowly growing louder. Nana clamped her hands over her ears to try to block out the sound. The high-pitched whistle only served to increase the pain inside her head, and soon she felt she wouldn't be able to take anymore. Just as she reached her limits, both the whistling and the pain vanished as quickly as they'd come. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself in an unfamiliar place. Yet, as she took in the surroundings, she had the strangest feeling she'd been here before. It was like being in a giant room of compressed air. All around her, she felt pressure. The space was devoid of color, save for a dingy gray.

**Hello Number 7**, said a cold voice from behind her. Nana didn't want to turn around, but her body was in motion before she could stop. Even as he entered her field of vision, she couldn't prepare herself for the shock and instant terror she felt at seeing him. Tomo looked almost completely unchanged since the last time she saw him. His hair was the same shoulder length, except now it was its natural pink instead of black. A fresh pair of devil-like horns sprung from his head, no longer broken. Physically, he appeared to be the same age as before. Moreover, his eyes…those eyes still held within them the same inky blackness. Only now, it seemed more intense, as if they could swallow you if you stared into them for too long.

Tomo said nothing. He simply stood there, letting her take him in before casually stepping forward. Nana did not move or speak. She tried, but her body was rooted to the spot…not by fear, but by some unknown force. As she struggled against it, Tomo chuckled at her vain attempts.

"What did you do to me?" she finally managed to cry. Tomo's only answer was a continuous, maniacal laugh. Closer and closer he approached. Tears of fear and helplessness crawled down both her cheeks as she quietly begged for help. However, none would come. Tomo stood nose to nose with her now; so close she could feel the heat of his breathing. The two stared into each other's eyes for moments that passed like several eternities. She tried to close her eyes, but couldn't. Every muscle in her body refused to move, even her eyelids. The last thing Nana consciously remembered was a twisted smile as darkness engulfed her.

* * *

><p>Lucy thought it ironic that her current situation matched what was going on inside her mind so perfectly. A single soldier, following his leader, pulled her along with such force and speed she felt he might yank her arm out of its socket. They moved so fast that the darkness blurred everything into one inky haze. Every so often they'd make a sudden turn that caused her stumble. But rather than wait for her to regain her feet, the soldier seemed content to merely jerk her unceremoniously back up. Inside her mind, her thoughts and questions whizzed by so fast she couldn't even register what they were. She fumbled to put the pieces together, only to have the picture shattered and rearranged repeatedly. And the further they ran, the farther she felt she was from making any sense of things.<p>

Lucy caught a quick look over her shoulder, seeing Kohta in a similar state. A soldier pulled him along by the arm a little more gruffly than the soldier dragging her did. From the look on his face, Kohta was beyond being uncomfortable. He looked down right in pain. However, the soldier either didn't notice or didn't care. Seeing Kohta treated so roughly filled Lucy with irritation, but she forced those emotions down for the moment. There were far more important things to worry about now…like staying alive. When her head finally started to feel balanced, Lucy decided it was time to get some answers. With all the strength she had, she stiffened her legs and pulled her arm out of the man's tight grip. Instantly, all eyes in the group turned on Lucy, as if they had all felt Lucy break away. As Lucy panted from the run, she used the silence to finally get a good visual of the men that had saved them. Half of them were diclonius while the others were clearly human. All of them looked at her with a mixture of surprise, anxiousness, and irritation.

The leader, the one called FOX, pushed himself through the crowd of his men. The only diclonius among them not wearing his helmet, he gazed at Lucy with equal shock at the unexpected halt in their progress.

"What're you doing?" he exclaimed. "We need to keep moving!"

"No," Lucy said with defiant finality as FOX began to turn, pulling her arm away as the soldier reached for it. Again, all eyes were on her. FOX began to look panicked. "We're not going anywhere until we get some answers!" A general sigh of annoyance hissed from among the soldiers while FOX looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"I'm sorry but we don't have time for that. Those diclonius could be here any second," FOX warned her.

"I don't care. We'll make time," Lucy retorted. Lucy gave Kohta a pleading look to help her, but he looked just as shocked as the soldiers did. When their eyes met, Kohta decided he found the ground to be much more interesting, and averted her eyes. The gesture sent a twinge of hurt in her heart. She looked back at FOX, resuming her unfaltering expression to let him know she wasn't giving in until she got what she wanted. Wiping the sweat from his brow, FOX breathed a heavy sigh, realizing he had no choice but to give in.

"I can't tell you much right now," he began. "But we're with a certain organization that has been observing you for the past two years now."

"Observing her? But why?" Kohta asked, finally joining in.

"I don't know all of the details–"

"Bullshit," Lucy shouted. FOX allowed Lucy her brief outburst before deciding to pretend he hadn't heard it.

"-but all we know is that you're very important to diclonius survival. And that's the main purpose of our organization…to ensure both human and diclonius survival," he stated.

"You expect me to believe that?" Lucy asked skeptically. She felt as if FOX was merely feeding her the best story he could come up with just so he could get her moving. Moreover, she didn't appreciate it.

"Lucy, maybe we should trust them for now? I mean, they did save us after all," Kohta spoke up weakly from behind.

"Kohta…if I learned one thing at the Institute," Lucy said, not turning to face him, but rather focusing her glare on FOX, "…it's that you have to be careful of who you trust."

"Whether or not you believe me isn't important right now," FOX said, shaking his head. "What is important is that we get out of here before–" FOX was cut off by the ripping of flesh as one of the human soldiers' head went flying…a fountain of blood still spurting from his severed neck. As gravity pulled his body to the ground, all the soldiers reacted instantly, crouching low to the ground, guns held at the ready. Lucy and Kohta dropped to the ground. She crawled to protect Kohta as he covered his head with his arms. During the discussion, they'd failed to sense that they were being surrounded. Silence weighed down on them like a fog. Suddenly, another soldier, this one a diclonius, fell to the ground as an unknown vector pushed his heart out of his chest. Lucy watched it rolled to a stop on the sidewalk, beating a few final beats before stopping.

"OPEN FIRE!" Gunfire shattered the ominous silence as everyone shot in one direction…towards the bushes on the left. A swarm of diclonius leapt out before any of the bullets found their intended targets. The predators descended upon them from above like hawks. As they landed, both sides engaged into individual duels. All of the diclonius soldiers tossed aside their guns and helmets, dueling with their vectors. The humans however, were forced to rely on their only weapons, but surprisingly, were able to hold their own. One such human used his lightning-like reflexes to dodge an oncoming attack and hit the diclonius square in the face before she knew what happened. Lucy was briefly reminded of Bandoh as she watched them fight. In the ensuing chaos, Lucy was struck with a crazy idea. She pulled Kohta to his feet and shouted so she could be heard over all the screams of war and gunfire.

"RUN!"

Kohta didn't need telling twice. The two of them ran through the fighting, swerving between duels. Several times, they had to duck or jump back in order to avoid either bullets or vectors. However, by some strange stroke of luck, they managed to break through unharmed. With their path no longer blocked, Lucy and Kohta took off at a full run into the night.

"WAIT! STOP!" FOX shouted at them, being the only one to notice their escape. He tried to run after them, but an attacker forced his concentration back to the fight, and he was unable to pursue them.

Both Lucy and Kohta ran until their legs ached, coming to a rest far from the action. The noise of the battle was far and faint, and they both felt comfortable enough with the distance to catch their breath. Lucy hunched over as she felt blood coursing through her legs. She checked on Kohta, who was behind her and breathing so hard it looked like he might pass out. Lucy was about to say something to him when she felt someone approaching. Turning to face the approaching aura, she soon realized upon further inspection that it was Nana.

"I sense Nana coming," she informed Kohta.

"That's…good…I'm…glad…she's…all right," Kohta said, straining to breathe between the words. They both waited, and soon, Nana stepped into view. Amazingly, it looked as if she was in much better shape than they were. There didn't appear to be a scratch on her. Kohta smiled at her arrival.

"Hey Nana, are you…alright?" Kohta asked, still breathing hard. Nana didn't answer. Her head was low, and they couldn't see her face. "Where are Mayu and the girls?" Kohta also asked when he noticed Mayu wasn't with her. Nana remained silent. "Nana?" Kohta's smile quickly turned into a frown of concern as Nana neither moved nor spoke.

Lucy gazed thoughtfully at Nana. Her diclonius aura felt different. It felt heavier than before, as if she were carrying something extra. Nana finally raised her head to look at Lucy and Kohta. Her lips were expressionless, and her eyes were glazed over with emptiness. Without warning, one of Nana's vectors extended out, striking Kohta hard in the stomach. Lucy looked on in bewildered shock as Kohta fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in visible pain. Grunting a few inaudible words, Kohta slumped to his side in unconsciousness. Lucy's mind filled with betrayal and hurt as she glared back at Nana, her expression like unforgiving stone.

"What the hell are you doing?" she spat at her. Silence reigned for a moment, and then, as if carried there by the wind, Lucy heard a small sound surrounding her. At first, she didn't know what it was. However, as it grew louder, she recognized it as harsh laughter. The world around Lucy began to spin. Only Nana's cold face remained in focus. Lucy thought the laughter might be coming from her, but noticed Nana's jaw remained clamped shut. The laugh continued getting louder, and she soon realized that the laugh belonged to a male…a laugh that was hauntingly familiar.

Everything stopped while Lucy's senses kept spinning, almost making her sick. It took her a moment before she realized she was deep inside her subconscious mind. It looked the same as it always did, and Lucy hated it. She knew what was about to come and braced herself for the worst. However, even that couldn't have prepared her for what she saw.

**Long time no see**, said a voice from behind. As Lucy turned, she saw that her expectations were gravely mistaken. Instead of the mirror version of herself, naked with its head wrapped in bandages, she saw the ghostly presence of Tomo standing there. He smiled kindly at her, as if they were old friends seeing each other by chance on the street. **How are you doing?**

Lucy's answer was a wail of fury. She rushed him, extending all her vectors to attack position. As she came within two meters, she jumped to the side, thrusting all five vectors at him. Tomo remained still as all five vectors passed through him as if he weren't there. Lucy was stunned into stillness as Tomo smiled cutely at her, as if he found her attack humorous.

**Now is that anyway to greet an old friend? How long has it been…two years? You look as beautiful as ever I see.**

"Shut up," Lucy snarled. "What are you doing here? What have you done to Nana? What's going on? Are you behind this?" All of her questions spilled out at once until Tomo raised a hand to silence her.

**One question at a time, please**, Tomo said in that ever-friendly voice, which was quickly making Lucy ill.

"I thought you were dead," Lucy told him.

**As a doornail**, he affirmed.

"Then what are you doing here?"

Tomo smiled a villainous smile, his tone turning dark. **It's true that I died two years ago, but my soul is eternal…as are the souls of all diclonius. So you see, I may be dead, but I'll never disappear.**

"What do you mean?" she asked. Tomo gestured for her to sit down, but Lucy only intensified her glare. Shrugging, he sat cross-legged in front of her.

**Where do I begin? First, let me tell you that diclonius are not the same as humans, neither physically or spiritually. Both humans and diclonius have souls, but when a human dies, they "supposedly" go to either heaven or hell. For a diclonius on the other hand, it's very different. When we die, we return to the Source.**

"What's the Source?" Lucy asked, her curiosity beginning to rise.

**It's what connects all diclonius together. It's the reason we can sense one another. It's the reason we have vectors. It's the reason for everything about us. **When Lucy looked confused, Tomo continued. **Let me tell you a little bit about diclonius history. Long, long ago, there was once a single diclonius. This diclonius was the most powerful diclonius who ever came into being. She had countless vectors that stretched to unimaginable lengths. Moreover, her vectors were so powerful, it was said they could cut through the soul. When she died, her spirit split into several parts, eventually giving birth to silpelits, kings, and queens as they latched onto any available living human soul. This once-shared state of being is why we're able to sense one another…because, in a very real sense, we all used to be one being. It's also because of this that we have vectors. You see vectors are nothing more than extensions of our souls past our bodily limits. Now when we die, our souls desire to return and reassemble into the being we used to be. Think of it as a puzzle having its pieces spread across nations, slowly being put back together. Isn't learning so much fun?**

"But what is the Source?" Lucy insisted, somewhat calmer now. This was the first time she'd ever heard any details on what the diclonius actually were.

**When the soul of the First split, there were two parts that held more pieces of the original than any others did. They were the most like the First. These two pieces would later become the direct descendants of the First, and would be known to the diclonius as the Queen and King. In other words… **Tomo pointed to himself and then to Lucy. **It's me, and it's you. **

"What?" Lucy replied in astonishment, her voice barely audible.

**Yes, you and I are the direct descendants of the First. The other kings and queens, though pureblooded as they are, they are not descendants of the first. All of them still have some lingering part of them that's still human. But you and I are pure diclonius. We were never human and we never will be. It's kinda like reincarnation. So you see, whenever a diclonius dies, it wants to return to the Source, and together the souls merge. Normally, that would've meant you or me. But since I'm dead, they now only come to you. That's why I'm here and able to talk to you. In a way, I've become you. Because you ARE the Source.**

"NO!" Lucy shouted. _It isn't true,_ she thought. _There's no way this disgusting, evil creature could ever be a part of me!_ "You're a lair!"

**I'm afraid not. It's very true. Tell me something Lucy…over these past several weeks, you've often felt like you couldn't control your powers, right? How about after that one fight you had on the beach. After you killed that silpelit, you felt stronger, didn't you. Maybe you even grew an extra vector?**

Lucy didn't even bother to wonder how Tomo knew all of this. Her mind was too busy replaying all the events that had plagued her thoughts recently.

**The reason for that is because you're body is growing stronger as you absorb souls into you, and your powers are transforming. Even now, with every death of a diclonius, you're growing stronger. Your body just hasn't gotten used to it yet.**

"But wait," Lucy protested, eager to find an excuse to refute his claim, "Why didn't anything like this happen at the Institute?"

**Before then, that helmet they put on you blocked your signature, so the souls couldn't find you. And for some reason, instead of coming to me, they migrated to Number 35, which is why she became so powerful. Why they went to her instead of me I don't know. Eventually, she became so strong the souls believed her to be the Queen.** **But now they're finally starting to find you, and your body is slowly changing into something more.**

"Slowly turning into what?" Lucy asked, afraid at what the answer may be.

**Not telling.**

"What're you doing here and what've you done to Nana?" Lucy asked bitterly when she received no answer.

**Since my death, I've learned some new tricks, including learning how to control the Source itself to a degree. Using the connection between us, I can jump from host to host. With kings and queens, I can jump as far as I want. However, with silpelits, since they're not full diclonius, I can only jump into them if they're close enough. But I can control them much easier and from any distance. Pure diclonius are a bit harder to control. My previous host was proving to be, how shall we say…useless. I needed a new host. So here I am. A little unhinge of the mind, and Number 7 has returned to her most primitive and beautiful state.**

As Tomo spoke those words, the fog inside Lucy's mind cleared as a sharp gust of reality burst through. She stared at Tomo with his arrogant smug, seeing the pale, ghostly image of Nana's face behind him.

"It's been you all along, hasn't it? You've been doing all of this," Lucy said, more a statement then a question. "You sent that diclonius to attack me. And you sent these new ones after me too. My dream…it's all been you!" Tomo's smile turned into a deep, serious furrow.

**Give the lady a prize**, he answered ruefully.

"But why?" she asked. Tomo just shook his head back and forth.

**If I told you everything, then it wouldn't give you anything to look forward to with my next visit. **The world around Lucy was starting to regain some light, and the voice of Tomo became small and far. **I'll be seeing you again, very soon. That's a promise. Until then. **Everything blurred again as Lucy reached out to Tomo, desperate to get more answers. However, in moments, she found herself back on the night street, Nana still starring blankly at her and Kohta still lying at her side.

"I see them," a voice from behind shouted. Lucy turned, seeing the group of soldiers running toward her, their numbers smaller than when she'd last seen them. Lucy looked back at Nana just in time to see her fly away with what Lucy thought was the smallest trace of a grin.

"NO! Nana!" Lucy shouted. She tried to run after her, but the soldiers had finally caught up and held her in place.

"You can't! It's not safe to go after her!" said FOX desperately into her ear. There was a loud radio crackle, and with one hand holding Lucy, he used the other to answer. "What is it?"

"Sir," said a voice through static, "We managed to find one of the targets. She's a teenage girl and she's carrying the two infant diclonius with her. We also managed to capture one of the rogues."

"Very good…proceed to the escape route. We're getting out of here now." With that, FOX clipped his radio back to his belt and called over his shoulder to one of his men. "Someone pick the boy up. The rest of you, gather the dead, and be quick about it."

"No! I'm not going with you," Lucy struggled.

"I'm sorry," FOX apologized. Lucy suddenly felt like she was immersed in cold air. She felt a small tingling feeling in the back of her head. As FOX removed his vector from the back of her head, Lucy felt her feet and legs crumble under her weight. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice." She collapsed…her body unable to resist the pull of gravity. As much as she fought the effects, it only accelerated her fall into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before was FOX reaching down to slump her over his shoulder. Then, she fell into a deep sleep filled with nightmares of Nana and Tomo.


	10. Chapter 9: JERICHO

As Lucy's senses slowly drifted into focus, she discovered that she was lying in what felt like a bed. The soft cushion around her head certainly felt like a pillow to her otherwise distorted perception; and the thin fabric draped over her was so warm and comforting it must have been a bed sheet. She opened her eyes only a crack, but still had to shield them with her hand from the filtered light above. Bit by bit, she reopened her eyes, allowing her irises time to adjust. Once they did, she found herself staring at a single light fixture on a blank ceiling. She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her body felt like it was made of lead. The rest of the room was covered in white floor tile and wall paint. She took in the details, surmising it was some sort of medical ward. Her gaze drifted to the left. There she saw a line of beds occupied by Kohta and Mayu, with Nyu and Yuka in two makeshift cribs on the end. All of them seemed to be resting peacefully. Both panic and relief at the sight of this forced any lingering fatigue from Lucy.

"Good. You're finally awake," a voice called out. Lucy turned to the voice and saw FOX standing in the doorway, his combat fatigues replaced with some kind of uniform. It resembled a regular military uniform; only it was a dark aqua instead of green. And instead of repels and medals, a single emblem of a giant fortress wall with guard outposts on both ends and a giant "J" in the middle sat on the chest over his heart and on his sleeve. Lucy tried to extend her vectors in self-defense, but found nothing happened. "I'm sorry, but I had to give you a sedative to neutralize your vectors," FOX said, reading the concern on Lucy's face when she failed to activate them. "Don't worry. It'll only last a few hours."

"Why would you do that?" Lucy asked, not masking her disdain. FOX walked over to Lucy's bedside, pulled up a nearby chair, and sat down in it.

"We have a lot of explaining to do to you and your family. And we need you to be open-minded about what we tell you. So you'll have to forgive us a little protection," FOX answered calmly.

"And how exactly am I supposed to defend myself...FOX?" Lucy made sure to add just the right amount of sour tone in mentioning his name. FOX merely smiled.

"I forgot we haven't been properly introduced. FOX is just my codename in the field. Why don't you call me by my real name? I'm Kosuke Irabi," Kosuke said with a small bow, which Lucy returned only out of politeness.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked, in a somewhat friendlier tone.

"I think I should wait till your family is awake to tell you that. You all need to know this," Kosuke replied seriously.

"And why are they out in the first place? And what did you do to me for that matter?" Lucy demanded.

Kosuke looked down, suddenly ashamed of himself. "I'm afraid we can't have you knowing exactly where we are, so we had to knock out the girl. The boy, if you remember, was already unconscious when we found you. As for you, you were being difficult, so I did what I had to. It's actually neat trick. I just put my vector in the part of you that controls REM and non-REM sleep. I vibrate them just a bit, and it knocks you out for a few hours."

"Sorry if I don't find it all that neat," Lucy spat back. Kosuke gave her a truly pitiful look, and Lucy felt like he was genuinely feeling remorse for how she'd been treated. Whether she knew this due to his expression or by their shared diclonius link, she did not know.

"I really am sorry, but you have to trust us," Kosuke pleaded. Lucy couldn't think of a quip this time. Guiltily, she found herself examining his face, thinking to herself that he was generally handsome. However, she quickly turned away such thoughts. She heard stirring next to her, and turned in time to see both Mayu and Kohta pushing themselves up into a sitting position. Mayu looked fine for the most part, but Kohta looked rather pale. His body looked weak…as if it had been pushed to its physical limits ten times farther than it should have been. He squinted his eyes as he rubbed his head with one hand and held his stomach with the other.

"My head hurts," he murmured.

"And for good reason. Whoever knocked you out did a pretty damn good job of it." Kosuke stood, facing all three of them in front of their beds. Kohta looked surprised to see him while Mayu eyed him with curiosity.

"What's going on? Where are we?" asked Kohta, surprisingly calm.

"Come with me," Kosuke said with a gesture. It appeared he wasn't going to waste any time. Lucy and the others got to their feet. Injured though they were, it wasn't enough to prevent them from walking. When Mayu moved to grab the twins, Kosuke told her to leave them, promising they'd be ok. However, that wasn't good enough for Lucy. She defiantly proceeded to the crib, took one of the girls, and put her in Mayu's arms while she took the other. Kosuke made no further protest as they all marched out into the hall.

It was a sharp contrast to the pure white room they had left. Everything appeared to be made of cold, unforgiving steel. Their feet clanged against the floor, echoing off the walls and down the hall. The air was thicker and felt much more constricted. The emblem emblazoned on Kosuke's uniform decorated the walls every few feet. Although the size of the hall was immense, they still had to huddle close together to avoid the steady stream of soldiers, mechanics, and other people. Lucy wasn't sure how Kosuke knew where he was going because the lights were so dim compared to the medical ward they had just left. Kosuke soon came to a stop in front of a pair of massive doors. After entering a key code in the side panel, the doors came to life and hissed open. Inside lay a massive command center bustling with activity. Monitors were occupied with flat faces as people typed away furiously at their keyboards. A steady line of soldiers carrying documents and folders moved from one side of the command center to the other. Phone calls being made into headsets blurred with the rest of the noise, creating an anomalous cacophony of sound to Lucy's ears. In the center of it all sat a circular table, which currently had a group of men who looked like officers standing in front of it looking down at some documents. As Lucy and the others looked around, they were shocked to find so many diclonius and humans working side by side. A pair of diclonius stood talking as they held bundles of documents in folders under their arms. Another diclonius conversed with a human as they both stood next to a water cooler. It was an odd sight for Lucy. Yet there they were, talking and working together as if it was as average as a day at the office.

Kosuke came to a stop in front of the circular table and stomped his foot as he came to attention to let the officers know he was there. As the officers looked up irritably at the interruption, Lucy felt they should do something. Therefore, she decided a slight bow would be appropriate, doing so with the others mimicking her. One of the officers, a gruff looking man who appeared to be the oldest, said something to the others that Lucy couldn't quite hear over the noise, and then beckoned for Kosuke, Lucy, and the others to follow him. They followed him to the man's office, adjacent to the command center. As the last of them entered, he shut the door behind them, completely blocking out all noise, and then shut the blinds. With Kosuke still at attention, the man walked to his chair and dropped down in it.

"Is this them?" asked the man in a rough voice, looking back and forth between Kosuke and Lucy's family.

"Sir," returned Kosuke's crisp, militaristic reply while he remained at attention.

"At ease," the man said with a wave of his hand. At this command, Kosuke spread his legs wider and clasped his hands behind his back. As Lucy watched this, it became clear that Kosuke, despite his young appearance, had many years of military training under his belt. The man leaned back in his chair, folding his hands almost prayer-like in front of his jaw. He allowed a moment's silence before taking a deep breath. To Lucy, it sounded thoughtful, as if he were coming to a difficult decision.

"My name is James Kent Bishop. I'm the First Commander here. I had FOX here bring you to my office so that I could try to explain the situation to you and answer any questions. So, where you'd you like to begin?"

Lucy didn't even know where to start. Silence fell over them as Lucy desperately looked from Kohta to Mayu. However, both of them remained silent. She felt it funny that the questions that had been burning a hole in her head suddenly had no words to them, as if muted.

"Who are you people?" Lucy asked abruptly, deciding to start with the most basic question. Bishop chuckled slightly, and Lucy saw what could have been seen has the tiniest trace of a smile behind his hands, almost as if he had half-expected the question.

"Our organization is called JERICHO. Its primary objective is the observation, preservation, and protection of diclonius and humans," Bishop answered with pride.

"JERICHO?" the others all said at once.

"Perhaps its better if I start from the beginning," Bishop said, taking a deep breathe. "Back when Kakuzawa's institute was still in the planning phases, he went around the country trying to acquire funds. He approached a number of pharmaceutical companies, small independent labs, and even some private backers. At first, he was very vague in describing what his research was about; all he told us was that it would change the world. Interested, many of us signed on and pledged money. For the first couple of months, everything seemed fine. All of us were eager to find out more about this research and what potential it could have. However, as time went on, Kakuzawa's deranged mind became more and more predominant. It became apparent to us that the man was insane. Therefore, before any serious construction began, everyone pulled out, severing any connection they had with Kakuzawa. Some went as far as retrieving and transferring their money into different accounts."

"But wait a minute," Lucy interrupted, "If all that's true, then how did Kakuzawa still manage to get the facility built?"

"When we pulled out, we figured Kakuzawa's plan would fall through. We thought everyone would see him as nothing more than a crazed old man. Unfortunately, we seriously underestimated his ability to attain money." Bishop spoke these words with a hint of regret and even some bitterness in his voice. "After awhile, we noticed some strange activity coming from a small outcropping of land near the Kamakura coast, and sure enough it was him. Afraid of what Kakuzawa might do, all those who originally financed him got together, pooled their collective resources, and formed JERICHO…whose purpose was to track Kakuzawa and undermine him wherever possible. I, myself, was one of those who originally worked with him."

"But how did you know about the diclonius?" Kohta asked, suddenly finding his voice.

"We had some very talented operators hack into their system and copy all the data we could find. After that, it was easy."

"If you knew about him, why couldn't you stop him?" Mayu asked as she too finally joined in.

"I'm afraid that due to our past experience together, Kakuzawa had acquired the knowledge to gain access to some of our technology. Although not at its full potential when he took it, it was still enough to be a threat."

"You said before that your job was to protect and preserve diclonius. How exactly do you do that?" Lucy asked with a hint of suspicion. From the glare Bishop gave Lucy, she noticed her feelings were not lost on him. However, he ignored her and continued.

"When diclonius starting disappearing, we knew Kakuzawa was gathering them up. Since we also knew no moral conundrum would stop him, we decided we had to do the same. So we went around to orphanages, homes, and hospitals, taking as many diclonius as we could. Generally, it was ideal that they either be homeless or at an orphanage. It was much easier that way. But if they had parents, it tended to be more difficult. Sometimes we'd make up a story to tell the parents, or sometimes we told them the truth of what their child was. And every so often, one pair would give their child to us willingly. Other times, we had to use our…'other' method."

Neither Lucy nor the others like the way that word sounded. Their faces contorted with increasing apprehension as Bishop explained.

"What kind of method?" Mayu probed.

"If just born and still in a hospital, we'd fake the child's sudden death with one of our decoys that we had developed for such a situation, paying off the doctors to play along. If they already had a home, then we just kidnapped them outright."

"WHAT?" Everyone was in shock at the casual, matter-o-fact way Bishop had said this, and for the response it failed to get out of Kosuke, who stood silently in the room.

"How could you do that?" Kohta scolded.

"Yeah. That's just wrong," Mayu agreed.

"What else could we do?" Bishop countered, trying to keep his temper even. "If we had left them there, either Kakuzawa would have gotten to them, or they'd have turned into killers."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked with curiosity.

"During our research, we came across a very interesting discovery. All diclonius, silpelit or otherwise, are mentally unstable. They're very prone to certain environmental factors on a mental level. All diclonius are born with a section of the brain that controls their ability to kill by sending out an electric signal throughout the different lobes. However, this part of the brain is not very strong initially, and if left alone, never would be. However, if exposed to high levels of stress, say if the diclonius is mistreated in some way, then that part of their brain gains strength. If exposed to this signal long enough, then the brain will eventually be overpowered and degenerate to the point were the diclonius is nothing more then a monster; capable of nothing but killing."

There was a long period where no one said anything as Bishop allowed the meaning behind all this to sink in.

"What do you do that's so different?" Lucy asked bitterly.

"We raise them with care and attention, friendship and love…something few diclonius will ever find out there. We also teach them how to use their vectors and when to use them."

"Just so you can turn them into your own personal army?" Kohta spoke up, speaking Lucy's words before she could. "That sounds an awful lot like what Kakuzawa was doing from what I hear."

"But not for our own gain," Bishop countered, "And they fight of their own accord. They fight for the betterment of all diclonius and humans." Everyone glared at Bishop, and he returned it. Clearly, there was a disagreement on JERICHO's tactics.

"Why did you bring us here?" Lucy asked, finally reaching the question they all wanted answered. At this, Kosuke seemed to stir for the first time since entering the office.

"After you escaped, we decided to observe you, knowing that you were important to Kakuzawa. When the facility was destroyed two years ago, we decided to continue observing you for your protection." Bishop held up a hand to silence Lucy as she opened her mouth to speak. "Before you ask, we did nothing in that situation because that other diclonius seemed different. He betrayed the norm, and that interested us. We wished to gather more info on him.

"Once you defeated him and returned to Kamakura, we were unsure how you would react back in society and we didn't know if anyone else might be after you. Therefore, we've observed you the last two years while keeping an eye on the rest of the diclonius. However, recently, there have been many things happening that gravely disturb us here." The room went dead silent. Even the air seemed sucked away by the intense vacuum inside. "Many diclonius have been disappearing lately, not just in Japan, but all over the world. And they all seem to be migrating toward Japan. And those in Japan were converging on Kamakura until when we rescued you."

"But can't they sense Lucy here, or all these other diclonius?" Mayu asked.

"This facility has its own blocking mechanism that prevents any diclonius from the outside sensing any of us," Kosuke answered for his commander.

"Exactly," Bishop said, "And there's more. Not only that, but the number of diclonius births has completely stopped. There hasn't been a single newly reported diclonius infant in over a year."

The weight of all this new information crushed Lucy. The scope of what was going on finally lay bare before her. Only now did she find this scope to be too large for her to handle. Before, ignorance of how big this was allowed her to avoid the truth and afford her some peace. However, the darkness was now alight and she could no longer turn away.

"Something big is happening Lucy, and your at the center of it. Therefore, we had no choice but to go to Secondary Protocol, which required that we abandon observation and any other plans in the works and bring you here to our main base for protection to regroup."

No one said anything. While the room once again fell into silence, Lucy's mind became a torrent of noise. She screamed out in silent agony, cursing everything that had happened to her. She cried in quiet helplessness, seeing Nana's face plastered across her mind's eye. She shivered in absent fear, Tomo's cruel laugh continually mocking her. With everything Tomo and Bishop had told her, she could see this dark picture slowly forming. For a moment, she thought about telling them everything Tomo had told her. Yet, for some reason unknown even to her, she did not. Bishop glanced at the clock above the door for a moment, and then got to his feet.

"I afraid I have important business to tend to and don't have any more time to answer questions. Kosuke will lead you all to your private quarters. Since you'll be with us a while, I invite you to make yourselves at home. However, I implore you not to get in the way of anything. You may come see me anytime you have further questions. Goodnight." With that, he bowed low to them and walked out the door without a second glance to anyone.

Afterwards, walking in silence, Kosuke guided them out into the command center into the hall and to their own quarters, which had already been prepared for them. Although Kohta protested, they all would have separate rooms, with the twins being placed in Mayu's room. As the door shut, plunging the room into darkness, Lucy felt for the first time in her life relief that she was alone. Falling face first into her pillow, she began to sob into the cushion until exhaustion forcefully took her into sleep.

* * *

><p>There had been a never-ending stream of people coming and going around the house all day. From police officers, to firefighters, to casual passers-by who just wanted to get a view of the destruction, Kaede House never had so many visitors while standing. Though the police had questioned several surrounding houses, no one had any useful evidence. Either they hadn't heard anything, or those that did simply ignored it, more irritated at being disturbed during their sleep. Even more baffling to the authorities was the fact that the registered occupants who lived there were nowhere to be found. They had been left to do nothing but scratch their heads in confusion while they tried to make heads or tails of the situation. A diclonius army watched from a safe distance as the humans came and went, their urge to kill only being suppressed by their new leader.<p>

As night fell and everyone left the area, Tomo, now controlling Nana's body, stepped out of the darkness and into the rubble of what had once been Kaede House. He pulled her along like a puppet on strings as she obeyed his every command without question. It had been immensely easy. All it had taken was a simple unhinging of the frontal lobe, and she was like a body without a soul…a void he was more than happy to fulfill. He walked amongst the broken wooden walls, savoring every crack beneath his new feet. All this destruction, all this chaos, all this death had been cause by him. And he found it all simply breathtaking.

His foot came down, and a surprise filled his ears. There was a distant, muffled sound of a familiar tune. Using Nana's vectors to dig through the rubble, he soon found the source of the music, and it made him smile. Although slightly damaged, he was surprised to see that the Lilium music box had somehow survived enough to still play. Using Nana's body, he bent over and held it in her hands. The lid was askew, almost broken off its hinges, hanging just barely. He studied it thoroughly, having not seen it or heard its haunting melody. It was soothing to hear, a perfect backdrop to the tragedy beneath him.

_Master_, said a voice inside his mind. He turned to see the group of silpelits standing close behind him, staring at him stupidly. He winced at the sight of them. He found them so crude in their genetics compared to a pure breed like himself. Moreover, they lacked any flair in their killing; rather their style was so garish. They were like savage beasts, powerful, but lacking the intelligence to function on anything higher than instincts. When consider against other diclonius, silpelits were just a pathetic, poorly made copy. Although, he was forced to laugh at the irony of having to abandon a pure breed because a silpelit proved more useful. Even though he did not like having to rely on them, he kept those emotions to himself for the moment. After all, they needed only to survive a bit longer to serve his purpose. _What are we to do next?_

Tomo began to walk away, and the silpelits followed. Tomo finally came to a stop at the stone steps. He stood there motionless, surveying all of Kamakura before him. The buildings and houses were full of lights. And each light represented a life just waiting to be snuffed out. Tomo turned Nana's head, and when he spoke, he spoke through her voice.

"I think it's time we had some fun," he said sweetly.


	11. Chapter 10: Interrogation

Lucy awoke several hours later, her eyes puffy, and her body still feeling sleep-deprived. She rolled on her side in her bed to look at the clock, only to notice the room was without one. In fact, even through her blurry vision and the dim light, Lucy noticed that the room was completely bare…save for a single dresser in the far corner and two doors, one of which she assumed led to a bathroom. Sitting up, she let the covers fall over the side of the bed and land in a heap on the floor. For a long while, she simply sat there, her body hunched over. No thoughts or ideas passed through her mind. It was as if her brain was not there, but far behind her still trying to catch up. Or perhaps it was because she was still so tired. She didn't know which it was, but didn't put much stock into it. Sighing, she heaved herself to her feet and began pacing around the room simply to be moving. The stillness had somehow become frightening. Lucy walk around the whole of the room, guiding her hand along the smooth wall, feeling its texture beneath her fingers. She eventually found her way to the light switch and turned it on. The lights blinded her temporarily as her eyes adjusted to the light.

The darkness had also become equally frightening. Last night, she had fought with everything she had to stay awake, but was defeated by the power of exhaustion and stress. Lucy chuckled depressingly, realizing that she seemed to have developed a fear of sleeping. The notion was oddly funny to her. She moved over to the dresser, checking each of the drawers. The topmost of the drawers had underwear and socks, while the others were filled with assorted clothes such as shirts and pants. Lucy pulled a few out and examined them, finding everything just her size. She grimaced at the shirt she held in her hand. It seemed that JERICHO had been preparing for her arrival for quite some time if they knew her measurements. She stuffed the clothes back into the dresser without folding them and slammed it shut. As she was about to plop back down onto the bed, she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's me," Kosuke's voice replied.

Lucy frowned. She couldn't say she was happy it was him. However, she also doubted if she would've been happy to see anyone right now. Taking her time, Lucy trudged to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to see Kosuke standing in the doorway looking somewhat nervous.

"Yes," Lucy said. Kosuke looked like he was at a loss for words.

"Umm…Did you sleep well?" he asked, fumbling for words.

"Not really," Lucy answered. Kosuke began to flush a shade of pink that matched his hair. He met Lucy's eyes and gave her a sweet, but pathetic smile. "Did you come all the way here just to see if I slept well?" Lucy asked tersely.

"No actually," he quickly responded, suddenly finding himself. "The commander wanted me to get you. He says he wants you to see something." Lucy wasn't too fond of the idea, but agreed, mostly so she'd have something to do, and because she didn't necessarily want to be alone. She quickly fixed herself up, and together, she and Kosuke walked down the hall.

"What time is it?" she asked after they left her room.

"Let's see, it's about…5:26 in the morning," Kosuke reported, consulting his watch. Lucy looked around and saw that even for so early in the morning hours, the headquarters of JERICHO was still alive with activity. As she and Kosuke walked down the halls, Lucy noticed out of the corner of her eye many quick glances cast her way by Kosuke. He had an apprehensive look in his eyes. A few times, it looked like he might say something, but ultimately he said nothing.

"Is there something you want to say?" Lucy asked coldly. She began to find his constant staring annoying. Kotuku's face flushed again as he rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his hair as if he been caught in the midst of an embarrassing situation.

"Just trying to think of something to talk about," he replied with a weak chuckle. Lucy raised an eyebrow at him as he smiled down at her. It wasn't until now that she realized how much taller he was than her.

"You know, you don't seem like the soldier type," Lucy said.

"You wouldn't be the first to think so," Kosuke answered with another chuckle, "The commander has told me that a couple times himself."

"You've known him a while then?" Lucy probed, interested to get more info on Bishop.

"For as long as I can remember," Kosuke said cheerfully. "He was the one who trained me and practically raised me. To be honest, he's the closest thing I have to a father." Kosuke's smile fell, and he became very quiet a moment before continuing. "From what the commander tells me, I was abandoned as a baby by my parents. He found me in some rundown, second-rate orphanage near Osaka. Luckily, Commander Bishop found me and brought me here. It may not have been a 'normal' childhood, but I have friends here, a place to sleep, a place to put my skills to good use, and a life that hasn't been painful or anything…except for when my friends die on a mission." Kosuke became very silent again as he bowed his head.

"How many died the night you came to get me?" Lucy asked before she knew what she was asking. She thought for sure Kosuke would think the question rude or insensitive. But he answered immediately, giving no sign of being offended by her question.

"We lost five; two were diclonius and the others were human." Lucy hung her head low, imagining the soldiers that had died for her and Kohta.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said quietly.

"It's alright. You don't have to apologize," Kosuke answered. Lucy looked up at Kosuke, who flashed her a gracious smile, which she kindly returned.

_Maybe this guy isn't so bad_, she thought. Although, Bishop still had a lot of convincing to do she added mentally. During their brief silence, Lucy looked around and saw that she didn't recognize any the halls or turns they were taking. Not only that, but the crowds were getting smaller and smaller until only she and Kosuke were alone. The lighting grew dimmer as they descended to what Lucy registered as the lower portions of the base.

"Where are we going?" she asked, unable to hide the edge in her voice.

"Don't worry," Kosuke replied reassuringly, "We're just going down to the cells. The commander wants us to talk to someone." Lucy did not like the sounds of that.

"Talk to _who_?" she asked, voice still on edge.

"We captured one of the rogues when we rescued you. She's been particularly difficult in talking to us. The commander thinks if you're there, she might be more willing to cooperate."

"What makes him say that?"

"From their attack patterns, we can assume that the rogues were specifically after you. For what reason, we still don't know and were hoping she'll be able to help us with it." Lucy felt a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach that only got worse the farther they descended.

"Bishop isn't planning on using any kind of torture to get information out her is he?" she asked grimly. This time, Kosuke didn't answer right away. He stayed silent as he considered the best answer.

"You need to understand Lucy," Kosuke said, suddenly stoic, "We're in the middle of a war. And in war, you have to do things you won't be proud of in the end."

"Does that include you?" Lucy asked pointedly. Again, Kosuke did not answer.

"We're here," he said as they came to a large metal door.

Next to it was a piece of machinery that looked so complicated it was a wonder anyone could have built it. In a flash, Kosuke entered a key code. There was a small weeping noise, and a small compartment opened to reveal another piece of machinery. Kosuke leaned in close to the machine as a small red beam shot out of the glass eye on the console. With another weeping noise, the retina scan completed. Kosuke then lifted his hand toward a pad underneath the scanner and pressed his thumb down hard. Another weeping noise, and then a dull machine voice echoed in the corridor, "Voice recognition."

"Kosuke Irabi," Kosuke replied. One final weeping noise and the doors began to open with a loud rush of wind from the other side.

"Security tight enough?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

"Trust me," Kosuke replied, turning his head with a serious look, "It's never enough."

The hallway beyond was almost an exact replica of the Institute. Giant sliding doors, each marked with a fluorescent number lined both sides of them. The floor was clean and smooth enough to slide on. And because the lighting was so much brighter than anywhere else in the base she'd been, it seemed they were stepping into a different building. Farther down the hall, they saw Commander Bishop waiting for them with his hands behind his back in front of a door marked with a giant red 18.

"Glad you decided to join us," Bishop said to Lucy as Kosuke saluted him. Lucy simply nodded her head in response. Bishop punched in a few codes in the side panel, and the door in front of them came to life, slowly opening to reveal a small observation room inside. As Bishop, Kosuke, and Lucy walked inside, Lucy saw the rogue in question through a large glass-viewing wall. She looked to be near the same age as her and Kohta; and like many at the Institute, was chained to the wall. Yet, she seemed different from the others that attacked her and Kohta. For one, she was still clothed, and didn't seem as savage as the others did somehow. She slumped low to the floor, the chains drawing her arms high into the air. The scene looked very depressing, and although Lucy knew this girl had probably come to Kamakura with the intent on killing her, seeing another diclonius like this couldn't help but stir her sympathy.

"All we got out of her so far is that her name is Sakuroka," said Bishop after a long pause. "This is as close as we're going to get."

"How come?" Lucy asked.

"We have a very limited amount of helmets that dispel vectors," Bishop answered casually, "And we use those mostly for military operations. So since she's our only captive at the moment, I don't see much of a need for it. Our normal defense should be able to handle her if she tries to escape. Besides, she hasn't used her vectors once since she woke up."

"How long ago did she wake up?" Lucy asked, turning to face the girl, suddenly very interested.

"About the same time you guys did, a few hours ago," Kosuke replied. Bishop stepped forward, pressed a small button in front of a small microphone, and spoke directly into it.

"Are you awake in there?" his voice boomed over the louder speaker. Sakuroka lifted her head gently, as if she was only being annoyed out of a nap. Apparently, the glass wasn't one way because when she saw Lucy, her face lit up with an unreadable emotion. Lucy and Sakuroka stared at each other through the glass, their reflections merging.

"It's you," Sakuroka murmured directly to Lucy. Lucy did nothing but continue to stare.

"We brought you Lucy as you asked. Now its time for you to answer our questions," Bishop said sternly, "What were you doing in Kamakura?" It was as if Bishop said nothing. Sakuroka didn't acknowledge she'd heard anything he just said. She refused to break contact with Lucy's eyes.

"So you're Lucy. You're the Queen."

"Why were you trying to find the Queen? What are you after?" Bishop demanded.

"At last we meet."

"ANSWER ME!" Bishop bellowed. It was no use. Sakuroka continued to ignore anything but Lucy. Only after a minute of Bishop's persistent questioning did she regard any other presence. She looked from Lucy to Bishop with the same annoyance as a human regarding a fly.

"I want to speak to her alone," she said suddenly. Both Kosuke and Bishop looked dumbfounded at this outrageous request.

"Absolutely not! I will not–" Bishop balked.

"Go," Lucy said so that she could be heard over him. Both Bishop and Kosuke looked at her as if she was crazy. "I want to speak to her alone too."

"Out of the question," Bishop protested.

"He's right, Lucy," Kosuke added, "She's way too dangerous. What if–"

"I can take care of myself," Lucy interrupted tartly, "Besides, she won't try anything. I can tell." Both Kosuke and Bishop turned to Sakuroka as if expecting some kind of confirmation of this, which they received in a small nod. Kosuke left the room with that, and Bishop followed after an irritated grunt, both still looking as if they thought this was a bad idea. After the door shut behind them, Lucy walked over to the door that led inside the holding chamber. As she moved closer, the door swung open automatically. She stepped inside, and the door closed behind her with a swish. The room was dead silent. Even her own footsteps and breathing were muted as she stepped dangerously close to Sakuroka. Finally, within two feet of her, Lucy sat cross-legged in front of her, both facing each other, eye-to-eye.

"Not exactly how I imagined our grand meeting," Sakuroka said with a grim smile, nodding toward her chains.

"Who are you?" Lucy demanded.

"My name is Sakuroka. I don't have a last name," she answered sourly.

"What were you doing in Kamakura?" Lucy continued. Sakuroka snorted.

"You guys are a bunch of broken records. Is that all you can ask?"

"Just answer the damn question," Lucy spat. The two exchanged glares, but when it was apparent neither was backing down, Sakuroka sighed and leaned further back.

"I was sent there to kill you," Sakuroka answered plainly.

"By Tomo?" Lucy asked. Even if Sakuroka didn't answer, the look on her face would have been all she needed.

"So you two did know each other," she said in mildly surprise.

"Tell me everything," Lucy told her, raising her voice and becoming more frantic.

"Well, there's a broad question. Tell you everything about what: everything about life, the universe, the weather?"

"Don't be smart," Lucy scolded. The dry sarcasm reminded her of Tomo.

Sakuroka frowned, and took a deep breath. "I was homeless and living on my own a few months ago. There were some boys in town that got some thrill out of chasing me. After a particular chase, I heard a voice inside my head telling me to go to Kamakura and to find you."

"And this voice," Lucy said, "Was it Tomo?" Sakuroka nodded.

"He told me I should go and kill you."

"And you listened to him," Lucy asked disdainfully. When Sakuroka failed to answer, she continued, "Why would you do that?" She just shrugged indifferently.

"I don't know…seemed like a good idea at the time. He said I'd become the new Queen, and I figured 'hell, my life can't get any worse right?' Unfortunately, it seems life can always get worse," she said with a smug tone. "Because once we got to Kamakura, he jumped ship when I needed him most."

"So in other words, you were only his ride," Lucy said, hoping to provoke her a little, but remembering what Tomo had said to her. Sakuroka laughed at Lucy's comment with a disturbing grin.

"You bet," she said, "And now here I am…just waiting for them to kill me."

"And what makes you think they're going to kill you?" Lucy asked.

"Oh come off it…you don't really trust these people, do you?" Lucy didn't answer. Although what Sakuroka said was true, she wasn't about to admit it to her. "Once I'm no longer useful to them, they'll end up killing me, like they always do. The same goes for you too, my Queen. That's just the way it goes for people like us."

"What did Tomo want?" Lucy pressed, ignoring the last part of her statement.

"Hell if I know. But all I'm certain of is that it involves you. He spoke of you a lot, you know…not very good stuff either. But with how often he did, I'm starting to suspect that he loves you."

"So he says," returned Lucy, now with a sickening taste in her mouth. Sakuroka leaned in forward closer to Lucy, speaking barely above a whisper so low Lucy had to lean closer herself.

"You can't stop him. Whatever he's up to, you won't be able to stop him. He's everywhere. He's not diclonius anymore. He's something else now. And whatever he is, you won't be able to stop him. I realize that now. I was only a tool to him, nothing but a meaningless tool to be used and tossed aside. But that's ok…because I'll be dead soon, and then I'll be free." Lucy looked down on the girl, feeling something between pity and disgust. The girl was clearly insane. She felt like she was looking at something ugly, yet still felt an unattainable sense of sympathy for. To Lucy, it was like looking into a mirror from two years ago. Lucy stood up, having heard enough from her.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this?" Lucy asked, somewhat hopeful, "About Tomo or any of what you just told me."

"Of course not. But the real question is…are you?" Sakuroka proposed with a mocking grin. Lucy turned her back on her and left the room. Outside in the hall, Kosuke and Bishop were waiting for her. Kosuke leaned up against the far wall facing the door, while Bishop tapped his toed impatiently on the tile floor.

"So, what did she say?" Kosuke asked eagerly.

"I can tell you one thing; she's definitely insane," Lucy answered him, looking over her shoulder toward the closed door.

"Did she say anything important," Bishop asked.

"She just told me about why she came to Kamakura to kill me. Apparently, she thought she'd become the Queen if she did," Lucy added when she noticed Kosuke's and Bishop's eager faces.

"Anything else?" Bishop asked with probing eyes. Lucy stared into them as she considered Sakuroka's words.

_You don't really trust these people do you?_

"No," Lucy said simply, "That's all."


	12. Chapter 11: Shadows

TV monitors covered the wall, each playing a different news program from across the globe. As the individual reporters stood on screen, their collective voices filtered together into a cacophony of noise. Yet this mattered little because each news feed was reporting on the exact same thing. Commander Bishop sat at the small desk in front of the wall of screens, looking and listening with an exasperated expression. He panned from screen to screen, seeing the severity of the situation evolving before his eyes. He focused his attention on a screen in the lower left where a young, beautiful Japanese woman sat at a long desk with another smaller screen beside her head that read:

MURDER IN KAMAKURA

"A dark shadow has fallen over the town of Kamakura as a recent chain of mysterious gruesome murders have been reported," began the woman. "As of now, three similar incidents have been reported, and the local police have yet to supply us with any valuable information. For a more in-depth report, here's Jupei Hanamaru." The screen shifted from the newsroom to a video montage of Kamakura, with several shots focusing in on the incident sites as a man's voice narrated.

"Normally a peaceful community, Kamakura has once again been struck by a chain of murders; murders that are strikingly similar to ones committed nearly ten years ago."

"We don't know much about this guy, but what we can tell you is that he's pretty gruesome," said a local police officer who had just appeared on screen.

"Apparently, the murderer decapitates and dismembers his victims," Jupei continued. "...randomly ripping bodies apart, severing arms, legs, and even heads of his victims mercilessly. The police are unwilling to let us film the bodies, saying that they are too graphic for public television. This MO is almost identical to another chain of murders that took place nearly ten years ago…a case that ultimately went unsolved. The police are withholding their opinions on whether they believe this to have been done by the same person."

"We don't know yet if this is the same guy. But we assure everyone that we'll do everything in our power to catch him," said another officer being interviewed.

"The police already have their hands full with another baffling case of a collapsed house near the city limits, and the disappearance of its inhabitants," Jupei stated. "They have informed us that they are not ruling out the possibility that these cases may be related. But how do the people feel about this?"

"It scares me, to tell you the truth," a middle-aged man said to the reporter. "I remember this kind of thing from ten years ago and it scared the hell out of me then, too. I just hope the police catch him this time."

"But with three incidents already being reported, what will the police do to stop the murderer from striking again? And more importantly, can they stop him? Until then, all we can do is wait, and pray. Jupei Hanamaru, Channel 7 news."

Bishop pressed a button on the desk, shutting off all the monitors at once. He'd seen enough, his belly sour from the news. He leaned farther back in his chair, crossing his arms and sighing. Things were not looking good. They were already short on time and manpower, but also they had added several pounds of weight to JERICHO's already heavy load. Although they'd captured a rogue diclonius, she continued being extremely difficult to getting answers from, even though she'd gotten what she wanted and met with Lucy. Suspiciously enough, she seemed to be less cooperative since meeting Lucy.

And Lucy was another problem altogether. It was clear as crystal that Lucy didn't trust JERICHO, Bishop in particular. Moreover, if they wanted to win this war, they were going to need the Queen's help…her help. Yet he had a powerful feeling that Lucy was hiding something crucial. It refused to let him be, like a troublesome insect constantly buzzing around his face, taunting him. The more he tried to swat it away, the more it gnawed at him. And now, he had these murders to deal with. Their meaning wasn't lost on Bishop. He knew if problems such as these kept piling up on top of each other, JERICHO would surely collapse under the weight.

"This isn't good," said a dull, cold voice from behind him. Bishop turned to find Second Commander Eric Stone standing in front of the door, having stepped in unnoticed. For a man in his forties, Stone looked exceptionally average…so average in fact he'd be impossible to discern from a crowd. His build was neither slim nor thick, with his baldhead reflecting the light, and his other features ordinary, at best. But what made him stand out was his face. It always appeared so stern looking that his surname seemed creepily appropriate, as if it had been carved from granite. The skin hanging from his cheeks made him look much older than he really was. Bishop spun back around to face the blank screens, leaning forward and looking much more his age.

"Yes," he murmured. Stone took a few long strides farther into the room.

"We need to act quickly, sir. The enemy is making its move. And more diclonius are getting closer to Japan everyday. We need to initiate the plan before it's too late."

"I'm aware of that," Bishop returned disdainfully, not in the mood for a lecture about everything that was going wrong. Stone took a few more steps closer. A long period of awkward silence followed. Bishop knew what was about to be brought up.

"Don't you think it's about time you told Kosuke?" Stone asked, sounding uninterested in the matter. Bishop winced slightly.

"Not yet," he answered.

"Forgive me for saying this, but he needs to know if he's going to help us with–"

"I'll tell him when the time is right," Bishop snapped, cutting him off, "And he doesn't need to know that now."

"I know you're close to him, but don't you think you're letting your feelings get in the way of your better judgment?" Stone asked.

"Since when was it typical to argue the commanding officer's decision-making?"

Stone let the matter drop and moved on to the next topic for his visit.

"Lucy's a potential problem as well. What if she sides against us? We need her on our side for the plan to work and she clearly doesn't trust us." It took Bishop several moments for him to consider his reply to this exceedingly difficult question that grew more complicated everyday.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Bishop answered finally. Stone frowned.

"I understand that the she spoke with that rogue we captured. I don't like the fact that they talked alone. And I like it even less that the rogue has become even more uncooperative since then. Something isn't right here. Lucy's not telling us something." Bishop wasn't at all surprised that Stone had sensed it, too. After all, he was a very astute man.

"Agreed," Bishop began, "But for now, let's give her some time."

"Again, my apologies," Stone said, "But time is a luxury we can't afford right now."

"Well, we're going to have to. Nearly twenty years of planning, hard work, and serious finances are going to pay off. But for that to work, we need Lucy to be on our side. So for now, let's work on earning her trust. We need her to see we're not the bad guys. When that happens, I'm sure she'll see things our way."

"And if she doesn't?" Stone asked grimly.

"Then we'll deal with it," Bishop retorted. "Needless to say, I don't want Lucy or Kosuke to know about these incidents just yet. It may cause problems." Stone gave a quick salute to Bishop's back and turned to leave. Just as he opened the door, he turned back one more time.

"And what shall we do about her friends?"

"Let them do whatever they want." With that, Stone left Bishop alone to stare into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Inside his room, Kohta sat on the hard cushion of his bed, twiddling his thumbs and thinking to himself. Only within the last day did the initial shock of what happened in Kamakura finally wear off. But now that he was able to look at things with a clear head, he felt more lost than ever. He replayed everything Commander Bishop had told them three days earlier, but still couldn't comprehend the magnitude of what it all meant. Were they really in the middle of a war that had started long before he found Lucy naked on the shore after an eight-year absence? The pain of having lost Nana to the control of the "enemy" was an even worse thought to ponder. Yet one thought in particular kept reforming with silent words inside his mind.<p>

_Why couldn't I do anything?_

This thought had all but moved Kohta into a form of isolation inside the JERICHO base. Only for meals and the occasional exercise walk to stretch his legs did he leave his room. He'd barely seen Mayu, the twins, or Lucy, and when he did, they hardly spoke. Mayu informed him she was ok looking after the twins, which he was grateful for because he needed the time alone to sort out his thoughts. Although, he did feel a pang of guilt by pushing off his parental obligations on her.

Apparently, Lucy needed this time as well, because she had become somewhat distant to all of them. In fact, there were times when Kohta was certain she was outright avoiding them, darting down hallways she didn't seem too interested in traveling down seconds before when seeing him. Seeing her avoid him like this sent a wave of hurt up his spine, despite his own reservations about being left alone.

_Why can't I protect her? _he asked himself sternly. He felt lost in a world that was unfamiliar where nothing was recognizable, even the people. Lucy and Mayu had felt like they'd become strangers whom he knew very well. And all the while, he asked himself the same, unending question.

_Why couldn't I protect them?_

Intellectually, he didn't blame himself for what happened. He knew that he had done everything he could've done compared to what he was up against. Yet, he couldn't deny his feelings…and that was where the real problem was. Inspite of his logic, he did blame himself; his everything, his best…simply wasn't good enough. He had always told himself and taken pride in the fact that he'd do anything to protect those he loved. But when all was said and done, it was all talk. When it mattered most, he was the one who needed protecting. The thought sickened Kohta to a level beyond anything physical, and he gripped his hands so tightly he felt like digging out his own flesh as punishment for his false promise.

In the middle of Kohta's inner battle, a loud knock dragged him back to reality. Kohta looked up and faced the door. The rapping at the large metal door sounded-if it was even possible for a knock to sound as such-oddly energetic.

_Who the hell could that be? _he thought, guessing it most likely wasn't going to be Mayu or Lucy. When he opened the door, he saw one of JERICHO's many soldiers leaning on the doorframe…a wide, friendly smile painted across his young face.

"Hey," the soldier chimed with a wave of his hand. From the looks of him, he couldn't have been much older or younger than Kohta. He was tall and skinny, with dark brown hair combed back so you could see the small receding hairline. A small, somewhat ruffled goatee decorated his chin. He had no horns, so he obviously was human, and from his accented Japanese, Kohta guessed he was American.

"Hello?" Kohta said in an awkward tone. Apart from Kosuke and Bishop, he hadn't spoken with any other member of JERICHO. So it was a great mystery why one of them was suddenly visiting him, greeting him as if they were the best of friends. A moment silence reigned between them, the mystery soldier raising an eyebrow.

"So…you gonna invite me in?" he ask, gesturing in a comically fashion.

"Um, not to sound rude…" Kohta began, "…but who are you?" The man began to chuckle softly, slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Sorry dude. I'm Ray Henigan. We haven't met or anything, but I've seen you around the place and in the mess hall a few times." There was another pause as Kohta waited for the man called Ray to elaborate. It seemed Ray thought this was sufficient because he only remained silent.

"And?" Kohta edged him to continue.

"And I just thought I'd say hello," Ray finished.

Kohta felt awkward as he stared into the smiling face of Ray Henigan. Unsure what to think, he gestured for him to enter without words, wanting at least to remain polite. As Ray entered, Kohta noticed that even his swagger had an air of ease to it. He propped himself up against the wall, placing one foot up on the wall while the other supported him from the floor. Kohta walked over to his bed and plopped down across from him, looking up with a complete loss for words.

"So how've ya been?" Ray asked the moment Kohta sat down.

"Uh, ok I guess," Kohta lied. In truth, he wasn't doing very well at all. Yet he was so stunned by this man's boldness that it was the only answer that came to mind. "Look, I'm sorry if I still sound rude or anything, but why exactly are you here?" Ray's face fell slightly, but not enough for him to lose his smile.

"I don't know if you know this, but I was one of the soldiers that was in the rescue operation to get you and Lucy. So I know what you guys are going through right now. I wanted to help make you guys feel better, so I figured the best way to help was to befriend you guys. You know, maybe it'll help you feel more comfortable around if you have a friend or something."

"Do you always randomly offer friendship to strangers like this?" Kohta asked.

"Why not? Besides, I'm always on the look out for more friends."

Kohta looked at Ray with a dazed and confused expression.

"You know…you're kind of weird," Kohta blurted out.

"What can I say," Ray replied, shrugging, "I'm a people person." Ray's mouth spread in a wide smile that let his white teeth shine in the light. As the two sat in silence, Kohta felt slightly calmer and more at ease. Soon, he found himself returning the smile, grateful for the man's kind gesture. "Hey, you wanna go get something to eat in the mess hall?"

"Sure," Kohta replied before realizing what he was agreeing to. As they navigated down the hallways, Ray talked in rapid succession, leaving almost no room for Kohta to reply. He went off on so many tangents that Kohta could hardly remember anything he'd spoken of before. Soon they arrived at the mess hall, which was crowded and full of people eating their evening meal. The scents of several different foods mixed in the air to fill the large space with a mouthwatering smell. Kohta quickly scanned the heads, but found no trace of Lucy or Mayu. Everyone, both human and diclonius, was engaged in lighthearted conversation, many of which were laughing loudly, telling jokes or slapping each other on the back. The atmosphere was overall rough and casual, reminding Kohta of the cafeteria in his old high school. He couldn't help but feel out of place.

"Hurry up before all the good stuff's gone," Ray called to him, already in line and saving him a spot. "Might I suggest something?"

"Ok," Kohta answered as he grabbed a tray.

"The cooks here make a mean spaghetti," Ray offered, kissing his fingers in a silly attempt to look Italian. "But really everything is great." Kohta only took something from the cooks to save face, still having not regained his appetite. After he and Ray filled their trays, Ray guided him to the far end of the room near the back. Kohta placed the tray in front of him, listening to the sounds of voices as they echoed off the wall, bombarding him with noise he couldn't understand. Ray sat opposite him and began eating, taking time to speak between every bite. Kohta was only half listening to him. Despite all the noise, Kohta felt depressingly alone…like a single island lost within a jumble of other islands. He glanced blankly at his food as if the answer may lay hidden inside the spaghetti. He looked around, taking in the details of everyone within eyesight. As he looked at them, their details seemed so sharp and strong. They all looked like men who were soldiers; men who had the ability to do something…men who were unlike himself.

"Hey, are you listening?" Ray asked with a mouth full of food. Kohta look back at Ray, ignoring the fact that he had not been paying attention.

"Do you enjoy being a soldier?" Kohta asked suddenly. Ray looked temporarily taken aback by the sudden question, but answered quickly.

"I guess it's ok," he said, "It's not all wine and roses, mind you. But it grows on you."

"But…isn't it hard?" Kohta pressed.

"Sometimes yeah. But you make good friends, you get to see the world, and if you're lucky, you get to save someone. Besides, I've always been an adventurer at heart," Ray replied with a grin.

The strange thought had occurred to Kohta out of nowhere and with such sudden surprise it almost scared him. He continued on.

"I guess you must be pretty strong right?"

"Oh hell yeah," Ray said instantly with a sly confidence, "I don't mean to brag or nothing, but I'm a pretty good shot around here. And don't tell anyone I told you this…" He leaned in closer so only Kohta could hear. "…but I'll bet you $500 you won't find anyone else with better hand-to-hand combat training than me. Why do you ask?"

Kohta didn't answer at first. The thoughts in his head were too busy to be concerned with a reply. As his mind coalesced around a single idea , he leaned in close to Ray, who followed suite.

"I want to become a soldier!"

It took a moment for Ray to fully register what Kohta had just demanded of him. At first, he looked lost, as if he was sure he'd miss heard. But Kohta looked back with a conviction as rooted as any mountain.

"Excuse me?" Ray asked flabbergasted.

"I want to become a member of JERICHO," Kohta said again. Ray burst out in laughter, slapping his knees and almost choking on some food.

"I like your sense of humor, kid," Ray said, his words hardly understandable through his giggling fit. Kohta glared at him, slamming his hands down on the table. Although no one else reacted to the piercing sound, Kohta's sudden outburst made Ray jump in his seat. Instantly, he fell silent.

"I'm not joking here," Kohta declared. Ray stared at him, now with a troubled look in his eyes. He sighed deeply, realizing this was no joke.

"Do you realize what you're asking?" Ray questioned him, "Being a soldier is no easy ride, especially not for a soldier of JERICHO." However, Kohta was not going to be swayed so easily.

"Since the day I lost my dad and sister," he began, speaking the words of his heart, "All I ever wanted was to protect the one I love; to keep them safe. But when it comes right down to it, I'm just not strong enough. I talk big, but that's all it is. In the end, I'm the one who needs protecting and saving. Well, not anymore. I'm not going to be some scared child anymore. I don't want to be a man that can't even protect his own family, let alone himself. I want to do something. I want to fight."

Kohta spoke these words with an utter conviction that was inspiring. He looked at Ray with a fire in his eyes so intense it burned his spirit with courage. Ray smiled at his passion.

"You do know that it'll be dangerous, right?" he asked, wanting to make sure Kohta knew what he was getting into.

"I don't care," Kohta returned forcefully.

"You may end up getting yourself killed," Ray warned him.

"That's not going to happen," Kohta countered him with swift confidence. Ray's smile broadened, and he shrugged humorously.

"Well, how can I argue with that?" he said. Ray stood up from his chair, and turned to leave with his tray in hand. "Come on, then. Let's go get you registered." He tried to make for the exit, but stopped when he noticed that Kohta remained seated. "Is something wrong?"

"Before we do that," Kohta said, "Could I eat first? All of a sudden, I'm really hungry."

* * *

><p>The office of Second Commander Eric Stone was so dull it was excruciating. A vomit green covered the walls, making any lesser man who had the misfortune to sit within these walls feel ill. The place looked clean to the point of obsession. No decorations of any kind decorated the floor, walls, or desk. Everything was completely symmetrical. Even the desk, which sat at the far end, had no engravings on it. The only two chairs inside the room, one for Stone and the other for guests, were hard and stiff. The whole room had an otherworldly feeling of being trapped; locked in a cage that was its own world, and completely inescapable. But to Stone, it was the most comforting place to be. It was a fortress within a fortress, protecting him on all sides from invading forces of the maddening world he lived in. In here, there was room for only one man.<p>

A knock at the door forced Stone to look up from his work.

"Enter," he said in his usual monotone. He returned to his work as the door creaked open, not bothering to look up to see who it was. The knock was distinct, arrogant, eager, and even somewhat dark, which could only announce the coming of one man. The man closed the door behind himself and his footsteps pounded hard and heavy on the floor with a smug swagger reverberating off of every stride.

"So…how did it go?" Stone asked him.

"Exactly as planned, sir," said a cruel voice. At these words, Stone looked up from his work to look Ray Henigan dead in the face. On his face was a smile so wide it almost touched his ears. "The idiot didn't suspect a thing. He practically begged me to let him join JERICHO."

"Very good," Stone said indifferently. Ray shrugged his arms and tilted his head to the side, adopting an almost mocking tone.

"And my parents told me a theatre degree would be useless."

"You have done well," Stone said, his attention still focused on his paperwork.

"If you don't mind me speaking out of place," Ray spoke up, now serious, "What possibly could we gain from having him join us? If you ask me, the guy seems like a bit of a wimp."

"You're right," Stone replied almost before Ray had finished, placing his pen down and looking up. "Normally, we wouldn't have anything to gain. But the boy can, and will become quite useful."

"How so?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling in sinister interest.

"We need Lucy for our plan to work. But it's obvious she doesn't trust us, and it's clear that Bishop is too incompetent a leader to do things right. So I'm taking matters into my own hands. On the next assignment, we'll send the boy, claiming to be shorthanded. And on that assignment, I don't think he'll make it." Stone said this with a sidelong glance to Ray as he smiled at the grim implication. "You'll make sure of that, I think."

"And when Lucy hears what has happened, she'll be in such a grief stricken fury she'll want to help us simply for revenge," Ray finished for Stone. "God I love my job!"

"Keep your mouth shut about this. If Bishop or anyone else hears about what we're planning, it'll be more than just our heads. I'm sure you understand this, private. You are dismissed, Ray," Stone said, appearing to take no personal interest in the matter.

"Sorry to sound rude sir, but must I remind you that I prefer to be called by my code name?" Ray said in a sarcastic tone as he turned to leave.

"Oh yes," said Stone, his tone, for the first time, sounding amused. "Remind me then…what is your code name, soldier?" With a smile that looked inhuman, Ray turned back and spoke his name with darkness in every word.

"My name…is RAVEN."


	13. Chapter 12: Confrontation

News that one of the people rescued from Kamakura was joining JERICHO spread like a virus, infecting every hallway and corner of JERICHO's fortress. Within two days, it was impossible to walk down a corridor or turn a corner without finding two or more soldiers gossiping. It quickly became the prime topic of conversation in the mess hall and inside the quiet of people's personal quarters. Speculation had also become something of a sport, as many developed their own theories as to why Kohta wanted to join…each theory more farfetched than the last. These rumors quickly eclipsed the arrival of the Queen Diclonius to the base, much to Lucy's pleasure. She had grown weary of the secret glances cast her way whenever she ventured outside her room. And while she was glad these people had something else to occupy their bored minds, she also felt somewhat dejected. She hadn't seen much of Kohta lately, and wondered why he would make such a large and potentially dangerous decision without first telling her about it. She eventually had to hear about it while eavesdropping on a pair of gossiping soldiers. Lucy's first reaction was to confront Kohta about it, but she lacked the courage to do so at that moment. She eventually ended up in Mayu's room because she felt the need to bask in the innocent love of her girls.

Lucy sat comfortably on Mayu's bed, cuddling Nyu in her arms while she reached up with her tiny hands trying to get a handful of Lucy's hair, which now reached past her shoulders. Mayu sat cross-legged on the floor playing with Yuka, rolling a small rubber ball to her as she giggled and tried to push it back to her.

"Are you ok?" asked Mayu, noticing that Lucy was staring into space.

"It's nothing," Lucy said quickly. Even as the words left her mouth, she avoided Mayu's analyzing gaze, knowing it wouldn't be enough to fend her off.

"You're worried about Kohta, aren't you?" Mayu probed. An awkward silence followed. The dense air seemed to be swept away, replaced by the happy giggles of Yuka and Nyu…both blissfully ignorant to their mother's suffering.

"I just…don't know anymore," Lucy murmured hesitantly. Mayu remained quiet, waiting for Lucy to elaborate. "It's more than all the stuff that's been happening. Everything and everyone feel so distant now. It's like I'm wandering through a world where nobody knows me. And in the end, I just can't seem to trust people anymore…not even Kohta. And I don't think he can trust me." Mayu looked at Lucy with eyes glossing over with fresh tears.

"It's ok to feel that way sometimes," Mayu consoled.

"I'm not so sure," Lucy replied.

"Well, if you can't trust people, why are you telling me this?"

Lucy thought about it for a moment, not sure if she knew the answer herself. "I don't know. Maybe I just needed to tell someone." She looked down at Nyu's sweet smile. Normally, such a thing would've lifted her spirits instantly. However, even her own children felt as if they belonged to someone else. The feeling disturbed her greatly.

"Why do you think you feel this way?" Mayu asked.

"I don't know. I just don't know about anything anymore. Even before all this stuff began happening, I could feel as if I was growing apart from everyone. It may sound strange, but I felt as if I was going back to the way I was before…back when I couldn't trust anyone, back when I was alone and didn't want anyone with me. And when I think about going back to that, it scares me more than anything." Lucy began to tremble as the air suddenly became cold. Everything seemed much bigger now, and the room felt surprisingly crowded to her.

Mayu looked at Lucy with a pitying look that did nothing to make Lucy feel any better. Silence fell between them again. Mayu tried for a moment to think of an appropriate response, opening and closing her mouth several times in the process.

"I know you're going through a tough time," Mayu began, "We all are. But you can't let a few bad moments destroy what you already have. You're not alone, Lucy. You have me, Nana, the girls, and most importantly, you have Kohta. And we'll save Nana. I know we will. As for Kohta, the only way you'll be able to work things out is if you talk to him. How else will he know what's wrong if you won't tell him?" Mayu smiled kindly at Lucy. As Lucy absorbed her words, she had trouble believing that Mayu was as confident in her advice as she appeared to be. Yet nonetheless, she was thankful. Lucy didn't say anything. All she could muster in response was her own smile, which she hoped was enough for Mayu to sense her gratitude. It seemed to work, because at that moment, Mayu stood up, took a few steps until she was right beside Lucy, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be alright," she said. Lucy grasped Mayu's hand in her own, but turned away. Although Mayu's speech was inspirational, it had done nothing to comfort her. If it were possible, she thought she felt worse. Because even now when someone was reaching out to her with a helping hand, she still felt utterly alone. The thought was the most depressing feeling Lucy had ever experienced.

"Thanks," she finally said after a great strain, not feeling at all reassured.

"You're welcome," Mayu said. "So, what say we get these girls fed?"

Lucy knew Mayu's brightened attitude was yet another strategy to lift her already downed spirits, but that seemed even less likely to help.

"Sure," Lucy whispered. Both Mayu and Lucy fed the twins, and then put them down to rest, after which Lucy dismissed herself from Mayu's room, saying she was going for a walk.

Luckily for Lucy, the halls were nearly empty. She never felt comfortable thinking while walking in these corridors. Often times, she felt the probing, and sometimes (she suspected), scornful stares of soldiers. She even had the sneaking suspicion that they could sense her thoughts. But with no one in the hall inspect her, she felt safe enough to explore her thoughts freely.

_Why didn't Kohta come to me about this?_ This question had been nagging her the most over the past few days, more so than anything else had. It both worried and angered her. She feared for Kohta's life. Yet she was furious with him for not coming to her about it first. Whenever she thought this, guilt would rear its ugly head, reminding her about everything she had hidden from Kohta and the others, and everything she was still hiding from them.

_That's different_, she would tell herself. However, no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't find an explanation as to how they were different. She also failed to come up with any excuse as to why Kohta wouldn't come to her about this, always managing to find some reason he should.

_He just didn't want to worry me_, she tried to tell herself.

_I was still going to find out anyway_, retorted a more fierce voice inside her.

_It's his business_.

_He should have told me about it first_, she countered.

_He just wants to protect us._

_I'm the only one who can protect this family._

These contradicting, and sometimes angry thoughts followed her everywhere she went and refused to leave her in peace. It was like the old cliché of having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, each pulling her toward one side. Her spirit certainly felt strained enough, as if it was being pulled in both directions. But one thing was certain. Mayu was right. If Lucy didn't confront Kohta about this, then nothing would change.

Summoning all the pent up frustration, angry, and emotions that she had bottled up over the past few weeks, Lucy marched off toward the depths of JERICHO, dedicated to searching every room until she found Kohta, if it came to that.

* * *

><p>With three quick pulls of the trigger, the gun rang out with thunderous shots that, if not for his protective earplugs, would've more than likely made Kohta go deaf. Kohta's hand trembled slightly as he held the cold steel weapon in his hands. Although four days had passed since he began his training, he still had not gotten use to the feel of a gun between his fingers. It seemed to vibrate with a forbidden power that he felt he was not supposed to wield. It felt unnatural to him, and he fully understood the potential of the weapon.<p>

"You're not holding the gun right," Ray called out to him from behind. Kohta turned to face Ray as he leaned against the wall, watching him with a mentor's interest while Kohta fired at a paper target in JERICHO's firing range. With an indignant sigh, Ray walked over to Kohta and moved his hands into the proper position. "See, you hold the handle of the gun with one hand, and cuddle the bottom of it with the other."

"Ok," Kohta said, trying to hide his irritation. Kohta was growing increasingly weary of both Ray's constant corrections and his own ineptness. Kohta looked downward at the ground, feeling frustrated with himself. "Why am I not getting this?"

"It takes time to learn this sorta thing," Ray consoled. "Did you really expect to learn this within a few days?"

"I don't know," Kohta answered, suddenly feeling foolish for making the request to become a JERICHO soldier. "It didn't look that hard."

"It never does," Ray said with a chuckle, "But if it helps any, you're coming along pretty well…especially for having only started a few days ago and for someone who hasn't had any previous experience."

"Thanks," Kohta said with a smile.

"I think you mean 'thank you, sir,'" Ray corrected. Flushing, Kohta immediately stood at the attention stance he had learned and saluted Ray.

"I mean, uh…thank you, sir!"

"I was kidding," Ray said, holding back his laughter, "I've always hated that formal stuff anyway." Kohta's cheeks flushed such a bright shade of red they almost looked like a pair of red tomatoes.

"Ok," said Kohta, trying to relax, though his body still felt stiff and rigid.

"Try to loosen up, man," said Ray, reading Kohta's body language. "That's why you're missing in the first place. If you're all tense like that, you'll be lucky to hit anything. Ok, let's try again." Kohta shook his arms and legs in a vain attempt to relax. Placing his goggles and plugs back on, he faced the paper target at the opposite end of the firing range. However, before he could fire, Ray was next to him, raising his arms and legs into the proper position again. "Hold the gun like this. Aim with the sight down the line. And keep both eyes open."

Kohta closed his eyes, inhaled a few calming breathes, which seemed to slow the world down for him, opened both eyes and pulled the trigger. Even before the reverberating sound had completely faded into the air, Kohta knew he had hit the target. It wasn't in the dead center, but it was close.

"See. I told you," Ray crowed, slapping Kohta on the back so hard he staggered. Ray strolled to retrieve the target, and sure enough, the final shot mark was much closer to the center than the older ones.

"Sweet," Kohta said in celebration.

"Indeed," Ray concurred, "A hit like that would take down a soldier real quick." Kohta was about to open his mouth in reply when there was a loud banging on the door. Ray raised an eyebrow in confusion as he went to let the person in. "Who the hell knocks to be let into a public area?" His question was soon answered. As he opened the door, a very stern-looking Lucy walked in, ignoring Ray's presence altogether. She marched straight to Kohta, stopping mere feet away from him and looking him dead in the face.

"We need to talk," she demanded before either Ray or Kohta could interject. Kohta was unsure how to react for a moment. He then uttered a quiet plea to Ray, who got the message and discreetly left the room, shutting the door.

"Ok," Kohta said in an interested voice, "What do we need to talk about?"

"Us," Lucy said, pointing to Kohta and herself. Kohta groaned under his breathe. He knew this wasn't going to end well.

"What about us?"

"Don't give me that," Lucy retorted.

"Don't give you what?" Kohta said, honestly perplexed with Lucy's random temper.

"That 'what about us' crap! You know damn well what this is about!"

"Well, maybe you can enlighten me," Kohta said, trying to keep his own temper below the surface.

"Why didn't you come to talk to me about becoming a soldier," Lucy said, almost shouting. Her voice echoed off the walls. Kohta averted his eyes, feeling guilty.

"It was my decision," he said.

"This isn't a game, Kohta. We're in the middle of something really serious. You could get hurt."

"Then what am I to do, huh?" Kohta barked at her, his own raw emotions surfacing, "Just sit back and do nothing? I know this isn't a game, Lucy. I'm not a total idiot."

"What if you get hurt, Kohta? What about me and the girls?"

"Yeah, what about you? What about all the secrets you're keeping from us?" Kohta countered, turning her argument back on her.

"That's not what this is about," Lucy replied.

"Then what is this about, Lucy? I'd like to know," Kohta shot at her defensively. Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it again when she couldn't think of a reply. She turned away from him, almost ashamed to look him in the eye; like a child being scolded by an angry parent.

"I'm not sure myself," Lucy finally managed to say, still looking at the wall. Both of them fell silent as the air became much muggier. With his insides trembling, Kohta turned away and pretended to be putting away his equipment.

"I just don't know why we don't talk anymore," Lucy began again, "Ever since we gotten here it seems we talk less and less and I don't know why."

"Maybe it's because you feel guilty," Kohta said. Lucy looked up, unsure how to react to the statement.

"Excuse me?" she replied, perplexed.

"Maybe that's why you feel this way. If you had talked to us before when we were still in Kamakura, maybe we could have prevented any of this from happening," Kohta explained, still refusing to face her. Lucy's eyes narrowed so closely together they looked like slits.

"Don't you dare blame this whole mess on me," she shouted at him.

"Then why didn't you come to us for help?" Kohta shouted back, turning on his heels. "Don't you trust us?" Lucy buckled under this accusation and she stumbled on her feet.

"That's not it," she said, knowing before the words left her lips that they sounded less than convincing.

"So you're gonna stand there and get on me for simply not telling you something when you, for weeks, have kept things from me and Mayu?" Kohta said in a tone that suggested both scolding and hurt.

"I told you that was different," Lucy said again.

"And I keep waiting for you to tell me how," Kohta said.

"I didn't want you to worry," Lucy blurted out. Both were not backing down as they each glared at each other. The tenseness of the scene was slowly raising their body heat, causing them to sweat.

"That's a bull excuse and you know it," Kohta told her, pointing an accusatory finger in her direction. "You're still hiding something, aren't you?"

"N-no, I'm not," Lucy stammered. Suddenly, Kohta's body, which had been stiff and rigid a moment ago, straightened and relaxed. His face too slightly slackened, showing instead of a face of intense anger, an even sadder expression of the utmost disappointment.

"I think you should go," Kohta said calmly, turning his back on Lucy again.

"But –," Lucy began, but her words became lost to her.

"I think you need to take some time to yourself. It's pretty clear that you still have some trust issues you need to work out. Maybe it's best if we have some time apart while we're here so we can both think things through. I'm sorry, but could you leave me alone?" If Kohta had been facing Lucy, he would have seen the tear that fell from her eyes like liquid diamond. Lucy said nothing and made no further sound. She simply did as he asked her and turned to leave the room as quietly as a phantom. Kohta stood there for a moment, not desiring to move. He squeezed his hands into a fist so tightly he could feel the skin of his fingers stretch. His arms were shaking violently now, and he couldn't stop them. With all the strength he had, Kohta raised a hand and punched the wall, releasing all his fury with one strike.

The action hurt his hand so badly he thought he might have broken all his fingers, but he didn't care. Cursing himself for what he said to Lucy, Kohta fell to his knees, burying his face into his hands, crying madly. What hurt more than anything was not how cruel he had been, but was how every word he had spoken to Lucy was how he truly felt. And the guilt that he had been heartless enough to speak these thoughts…thoughts about how she may have, in fact, been at fault for everything that had happened was unbearable.

* * *

><p>As Lucy slinked away, Ray Henigan stood unnoticed by the door with a satisfied grin across his demented face. His eyes poured into Lucy's back as she turned a corner and disappeared. He chanced a quick glance inside the firing range, stealthily peeking around the door in just enough time to see Kohta punch the opposite wall. The sound rang out with the torment Ray could see on Kohta's face as he slumped down, burying his face in his hands. He watched for a moment or two, enjoying Kohta's anguish before walking away with his hands in his pockets. After strolling down several corridors, a sinister chuckle hissed between his teeth once he felt he was alone. The laughter echoed off the cold steel.<p>

Things were going much better than he could have hoped for.


End file.
